showing 3 related works from this author
Convergent Loss of Chemoreceptors across Independent Origins of Slave-Making in Ants
2022
The evolution of an obligate parasitic lifestyle often leads to the reduction of morphological and physiological traits, which may be accompanied by loss of genes and functions. Slave-maker ants are social parasites that exploit the work force of closely related ant species for social behaviours such as brood care and foraging. Recent divergence between these social parasites and their hosts enables comparative studies of gene family evolution. We sequenced the genomes of eight ant species, representing three independent origins of ant slavery. During the evolution of eusociality, chemoreceptor genes multiplied due to the importance of chemical communication in societies. We investigated ev…
Evidence for a conserved queen-worker genetic toolkit across slave-making ants and their ant hosts
2021
AbstractThe ecological success of social Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps) depends on the division of labour between the queen and workers. Each caste is highly specialised in its respective function in morphology, behaviour and life-history traits, such as lifespan and fecundity. Despite strong defences against alien intruders, insect societies are vulnerable to social parasites, such as workerless inquilines or slave-making (dulotic) ants. Here, we investigate whether gene expression varies in parallel ways between lifestyles (slave-making versus host ants) across five independent origins of ant slavery in the “Formicoxenus-group” of the ant tribe Crematogastrini. As caste differences are o…
Comparative analyses of caste, sex, and developmental stage‐specific transcriptomes in two Temnothorax ants
2020
Abstract Social insects dominate arthropod communities worldwide due to cooperation and division of labor in their societies. This, however, makes them vulnerable to exploitation by social parasites, such as slave‐making ants. Slave‐making ant workers pillage brood from neighboring nests of related host ant species. After emergence, host workers take over all nonreproductive colony tasks, whereas slavemakers have lost the ability to care for themselves and their offspring. Here, we compared transcriptomes of different developmental stages (larvae, pupae, and adults), castes (queens and workers), and sexes of two related ant species, the slavemaker Temnothorax americanus and its host Temnoth…