Show threadMikko KolkkalaOct 19, 2023

I used to study these fascinating #ants.

#slavemakers #inquilines #SocialParasites #Formicoxenini (now #Crematogastrini) #phylogeny

Show threadMikko KolkkalaOct 19, 2023
I used to study these fascinating #ants. #slavemakers #inquilines #SocialParasites #Formicoxenini (now #Crematogastrini) #phylogeny
BashaMar 28, 2023

Today I learned that #inquilines are uninvited guests that trash the place. They have #Gall

https://mstdn.ca/@friesen5000/110103314412817929

Chris Friesen (@[email protected])

Attached: 3 images This gall was induced on a wild rose by #Diplolepis #gall #wasps but then invaded by related #Perclistus wasps that lived in the gall as #inquilines (ie: uninvited guests that trash the place). Cutting the gall open reveals the larval cells and the paths chewed by the adults on their way out. Gall biology and #ecology are so cool. #Hymenoptera #Cynipidae #galls #insect #FaunaOfManitoba #wasp #InsectPhotography

Mastodon Canada
XCsciMar 12, 2023

Possible solution to the mystery of the rapid, parallel, and #sympatric #evolution of #ant #workerless social #parasites (#inquilines): a single #mutation in a #supergene.

https://cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)00136-7 Trible et al. 2023

A caste differentiation mutant elucidates the evolution of socially parasitic ants

Trible et al. report a variant strain of the clonal raider ant that expresses queen-like traits in individuals that would normally become workers. These obligately parasitic variants have a mutated supergene and arose directly from their free-living parent strain, suggesting a genetic mechanism for the evolution of ant workerless social parasites.

Current Biology