Institute of Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Johannes von Müller Weg 6, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Biol Lett. 2012 Oct 23;8(5):748-50. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0499. Epub 2012 Jul 18.
Reciprocal selection pressures in host-parasite systems drive coevolutionary arms races that lead to advanced adaptations in both opponents. In the interactions between social parasites and their hosts, aggression is one of the major behavioural traits under selection. In a field manipulation, we aimed to disentangle the impact of slavemaking ants and nest density on aggression of Temnothorax longispinosus ants. An early slavemaker mating flight provided us with the unique opportunity to study the influence of host aggression and demography on founding decisions and success. We discovered that parasite queens avoided colony foundation in parasitized areas and were able to capture more brood from less aggressive host colonies. Host colony aggression remained consistent over the two-month experiment, but did not respond to our manipulation. However, as one-fifth of all host colonies were successfully invaded by parasite queens, slavemaker nest foundation acts as a strong selection event selecting for high aggression in host colonies.
在宿主-寄生虫系统中，相互选择压力驱动着共同进化的军备竞赛，导致双方都产生了高级适应。在社会寄生虫与其宿主的相互作用中，攻击性是主要的行为特征之一。在野外操作中，我们旨在区分奴役蚂蚁和巢密度对 Temnothorax longispinosus 蚂蚁攻击性的影响。早期的奴役蚁交配飞行为我们提供了一个独特的机会，研究宿主攻击性和种群密度对建立决策和成功的影响。我们发现，寄生虫女王避免在被寄生的区域建立殖民地，并且能够从攻击性较弱的宿主群体中捕获更多的幼虫。在为期两个月的实验中，宿主群体的攻击性保持一致，但对我们的操作没有反应。然而，由于五分之一的宿主群体被寄生虫女王成功入侵，奴役蚁巢的建立成为了一个强有力的选择事件，选择了宿主群体的高攻击性。
