The evolution of social parasitism in Formica ants revealed by a global phylogeny
Abstract
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 of Formica 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.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- September 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.2026029118
- Bibcode:
- 2021PNAS..11826029B