Open AccessThe evolution of social parasitism inFormicaants revealed by a global phylogeny
Author(s) -
Marek L. Borowiec,
Stefan P. Cover,
Christian Rabeling
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2026029118
Subject(s) - biology , obligate , parasitism , facultative , social evolution , eusociality , obligate parasite , zoology , phylogenetics , ecology , evolutionary biology , hymenoptera , genetics , host (biology) , gene
Significance Identifying the conditions associated with a life history transition from cooperative colony life to exploitative social parasitism is important for understanding how changes in behavior contribute to speciation. To explore the evolutionary origins of social parasitism, we reconstructed the evolutionary history ofFormica ants because half of all species are social parasites and all socially parasitic life history syndromes known from eusocial insects are represented in this genus. We demonstrate that social parasites evolved from an ancestor that lost the ability to establish new colonies independently and that highly specialized parasites can evolve from less complex social parasite syndromes. Our findings emphasize that social parasite syndromes readily originate in socially polymorphic organisms and evolved convergently across the ant phylogeny.