PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Parasitism is ubiquitous across the tree of life, and parasites comprise approximately half of all animal species. Social insect colonies attract many pathogens, endo- and ectoparasites, and are exploited by social parasites, which usurp the social environment of their hosts for survival and reproduction. Exploitation by parasites and pathogens versus social parasites may cause similar behavioural and morphological modifications of the host. Ants possess two overlapping syndromes: the endo- and social parasite syndromes. We rediscovered two populations of the putative social parasite Manica parasitica in the Sierra Nevada, and tested the hypothesis that M. parasitica is an independently evolving social parasite. We evaluated traits used to discriminate M. parasitica from its host Manica bradleyi, and examined the morphology of M. parasitica in the context of ant parasitic syndromes. We find that M. parasitica is not a social parasite. Instead, M. parasitica represents cestode-infected M. bradleyi. We propose that M. parasitica should be regarded as a junior synonym of M. bradleyi. Our results emphasize that an integrative approach is essential for unravelling the complex life histories of social insects and their symbionts.
摘要：
寄生在生命之树中无处不在，寄生虫约占所有动物物种的一半。社会性昆虫群落吸引了许多病原体，体内和外寄生虫，被社会寄生虫利用，为了生存和繁殖，他们篡夺了宿主的社会环境。与社会寄生虫相比，寄生虫和病原体的利用可能会导致宿主的类似行为和形态改变。蚂蚁有两种重叠的综合症：体内寄生虫综合症和社会寄生虫综合症。我们在内华达山脉重新发现了两个假定的社会寄生虫马尼卡寄生虫，并检验了寄生虫是一种独立进化的社会寄生虫的假设。我们评估了用于区分寄生菌和寄主马尼卡·布拉德利的性状，并在蚂蚁寄生综合征的背景下检查了寄生分枝杆菌的形态。我们发现M.parasitica不是社会寄生虫。相反，寄生M.代表感染了昆虫的M.bradleyi。我们建议将寄生菌视为Bradleyi的初级同义词。我们的结果强调，综合方法对于解开社会昆虫及其共生体的复杂生活史至关重要。
