1. A mimetic nesting association between a timid social wasp and an aggressive arboreal ant
- Author
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James M. Carpenter, Jérôme Orivel, Alain Dejean, Bruno Corbara, Pablo Servigne, Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA), Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-AgroParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester], University of Leicester, Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Investissement d'Avenir grant : ANR-10-LABX-25-01, Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Arboreal locomotion ,Wasps ,Ant-wasp interactions ,Biology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Nesting Behavior ,Trees ,Nest ,Animals ,Mimicry ,Nest site selection ,Symbiosis ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Army ant ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,Ants ,Ecology ,Host (biology) ,Protopolybia emortualis ,Dolichoderus bidens ,General Medicine ,Commensalism ,biology.organism_classification ,French Guiana ,Aggression ,010602 entomology ,Polistinae ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences - Abstract
International audience; In French Guiana, the arboreal nests of the swarm-founding social wasp Protopolybia emortualis (Polistinae) are generally found near those of the arboreal dolichoderine ant Dolichoderus bidens. These wasp nests are typically protected by an envelope, which in turn is covered by an additional carton 'shelter' with structure resembling the D. bidens nests. A few wasps constantly guard their nest to keep D. bidens workers from approaching. When alarmed by a strong disturbance, the ants invade the host tree foliage whereas the wasps retreat into their nest. Notably, there is no chemical convergence in the cuticular profiles of the wasps and ants sharing a tree. The aggressiveness of D. bidens likely protects the wasps from army ant raids, but the ants do not benefit from the presence of the wasps; therefore, this relationship corresponds to a kind of commensalism. (C) 2018 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2018
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