Lorenzi Maria Cristina
Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, LEEC, UR 4443, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France.
Insects. 2021 Nov 8;12(11):1006. doi: 10.3390/insects12111006.
Social parasites have evolved adaptations to overcome host resistance as they infiltrate host colonies and establish there. Among the chemical adaptations, a few species are chemically "insignificant"; they are poor in recognition cues (cuticular hydrocarbons) and evade host detection. As cuticular hydrocarbons also serve a waterproofing function, chemical insignificance is beneficial as it protects parasites from being detected but is potentially harmful because it exposes parasites to desiccation stress. Here I tested whether the social parasites employ behavioral water-saving strategies when they live at colonies. Observations in the field showed that parasites were less active than their cohabiting host foundresses, spent more time at the nest, and rested in the shadowy, back face of the nest, rather than at the front face, which contradicted expectations for the use of space for dominant females-typically, dominants rest at the nest front-face. These data suggest that behavioral adaptations might promote resistance to desiccation stress in chemical insignificant social parasites.
社会性寄生虫在侵入宿主群体并在其中定殖时，已经进化出了克服宿主抵抗力的适应性。在化学适应性方面，有一些物种在化学上“不显眼”；它们的识别线索（表皮碳氢化合物）较少，能够躲避宿主的检测。由于表皮碳氢化合物也具有防水功能，化学不显眼既有好处，因为它能保护寄生虫不被发现，但也有潜在危害，因为它会使寄生虫面临干燥压力。在这里，我测试了社会性寄生虫在群体中生活时是否采用行为节水策略。野外观察表明，寄生虫比与其同居的宿主奠基蚁活动更少，在巢穴中停留的时间更长，并且在巢穴阴暗的背面休息，而不是在正面，这与优势雌性对空间的使用预期相矛盾——通常情况下，优势个体在巢穴正面休息。这些数据表明，行为适应性可能会促进化学不显眼的社会性寄生虫对干燥压力的抵抗力。
