Coevolution between slave-making ants and their hosts: host specificity and geographical variation.

R Blatrix; J M Herbers

doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01947.x

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Coevolution between slave-making ants and their hosts: host specificity and geographical variation.

R Blatrix·J M Herbers

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Abstract

We explored the impact of a slave-making ant, Protomognathus americanus, on two of its hosts, Leptothorax longispinosus and L. ambiguus. We showed that, on average, slave-maker colonies conduct raids on 2.7 L. longispinosus and 1.4 L. ambiguus nests in a single year. The more common host, L. longispinosus, survives raiding and colony-founding events in a third of the cases, but the less common host rarely survives attacks from the slave-makers. We compare our results, collected in Vermont, to a study conducted in New York where the slave-maker pressure is much stronger. Our results suggest that in Vermont the slave-maker has a sparing strategy when raiding L. longispinosus, but not when raiding L. ambiguus. Thus coevolution between slave-making ants and their hosts shows host specificity and geographical variation.

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Aggression Animals Ants Biological Evolution Dominance-Subordination Gene Frequency Geography Microsatellite Repeats Symbiosis Vermont Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

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R Blatrix, J M Herbers. 2003. Coevolution between slave-making ants and their hosts: host specificity and geographical variation.. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01947.x

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