Chen Zhaoyang, Tian Li, Ge Jin, Wang Shiyu, Chen Ting, Duan Yuange, Song Fan, Cai Wanzhi, Wang Zhengwei, Li Hu
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 May 20;122(20):e2422597122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2422597122. Epub 2025 May 12.
Tool use is widely reported across a broad range of the animal kingdom, yet comprehensive empirical tests of its function and evolutionary drivers remain scarce, predominantly focused on a few relatively intelligent vertebrate lineages. In this study, we provide a comprehensive examination of tool use behavior in the assassin bug , a specialist predator of stingless bees that exploits resin droplet from bee nest entrance to facilitate hunting. Field behavioral experiments demonstrated that resin use is critical for hunting success, as the predator uses resin to stimulate the colonial defense of stingless bees, luring attacking bees toward its optimal hunting position. Chemical analysis revealed that resin processing by the assassin bug enhances the emission of volatile compounds, making the resin more attractive and stimulating to guard bees. Through these experiments, we empirically demonstrate how an invertebrate predator adapts to the colony defense of social insects via tool use behavior. We further propose that complex tool use can evolve under selective pressures driven by diet specialization. Our findings offer a new model for studying the adaptive functions and underlying mechanisms of tool use behaviors in animals.
工具使用在广泛的动物王国中都有广泛报道，但对其功能和进化驱动因素的全面实证测试仍然很少，主要集中在一些相对聪明的脊椎动物谱系上。在这项研究中，我们对猎蝽的工具使用行为进行了全面研究，猎蝽是一种专门捕食无刺蜂的捕食者，它利用蜂巢入口处的树脂滴来方便捕猎。野外行为实验表明，使用树脂对捕猎成功至关重要，因为捕食者利用树脂刺激无刺蜂的群体防御，将攻击的蜜蜂引诱到其最佳捕猎位置。化学分析表明，猎蝽对树脂的处理增强了挥发性化合物的排放，使树脂对守卫蜜蜂更具吸引力和刺激性。通过这些实验，我们实证证明了一种无脊椎动物捕食者如何通过工具使用行为适应群居昆虫的群体防御。我们进一步提出，复杂的工具使用可以在饮食专业化驱动的选择压力下进化。我们的研究结果为研究动物工具使用行为的适应功能和潜在机制提供了一个新模型。
