Article
Biology
Benjamin P. Oldroyd, Boris Yagound, Michael H. Allsopp, Michael J. Holmes, Gabrielle Buchmann, Amro Zayed, Madeleine Beekman
Summary: The study investigated the genetic recombination rates between Cape honeybee workers and queens, revealing that workers have evolved mechanisms to reduce recombination while queens do not possess such mechanisms.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luisa Antonia Campos Barros, Christian Rabeling, Gisele Amaro Teixeira, Clea dos Santos Ferreira Mariano, Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie, Hilton Jeferson Alves Cardoso de Aguiar
Summary: The prevalent mode of reproduction among ants is arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, with some species also capable of thelytokous parthenogenesis. M. smithii is a fungus-growing ant species that exhibits both sexual and asexual reproduction, showing karyotypic variation between populations.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Lucie Hostinska, Petr Kunes, Jiri Hadrava, Jordi Bosch, Pier Luigi Scaramozzino, Petr Bogusch
Summary: Research on four species of the genus Rhodanthidium found that they typically nest inside large snail shells, closing the nests with a plug made of resin, sand, and snail shell fragments. The nests of different species can be distinguished based on structural characteristics, with some species building multiple brood cells in one nest. Some species overwinter in the adult stage, while others show differences in nest location and parasitism.
JOURNAL OF HYMENOPTERA RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jin-Cheng Zhou, Qian Zhao, Shi-Meng Liu, Dan Shang, Xu Zhao, Liang-Xiao Huo, Hui Dong, Li-Sheng Zhang
Summary: The study found that the fitness of thelytokous Wolbachia-infected Trichogramma species was lower, including reduced fecundity, shorter longevity, smaller body size, and lower emergence rate of offspring. Additionally, Trichogramma individuals that developed from superparasitised hosts had lower fitness parameters compared to those from single-parasitised hosts. Interestingly, Wolbachia-infected females showed higher dispersal capacity in superparasitism condition.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wenping Liu, Yue Li, Huanhuan Lu, Youjin Hao, Ke Zhang, Xiaoqun Dang, Xiaodong Fan, Huan Zhang, Zeyang Zhou, Chaodong Zhu, Arong Luo, Dunyuan Huang
Summary: Insect-associated microorganisms are important for insect health and development. This study analyzed the bacterial community in the larval gut, nest soil, and brood provision of Osmia excavata. Sequencing of the microorganisms revealed differences in diversity and composition among the three environments, but similarities were observed in the gut microbiota across different locations. The results suggest that habitat similarity influences the bacterial community diversity in the gut of O. excavata.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jiaojiao Wang, Laikun Ma, Xiangyang Chen, Canchao Yang
Summary: The study demonstrates that nest parasites can harm hosts, leading to the evolution of anti-parasitic behaviors in hosts. In the case of oriental reed warblers, hosts showed stronger responses during the nestling stage compared to the egg stage, indicating potential differences in their perception of different threats.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Bruce E. Lyon, Alejandra Carminati, Genevieve Goggin, John M. Eadie
Summary: Obligate brood parasites rely completely on other species to raise their offspring. The evolution of obligate parasitism is likely due to the increased reproductive success that comes with being emancipated from parental care. However, the evolution of brood parasitism in black-headed ducks is puzzling because their self-feeding precocial offspring should not limit the reproductive potential of potential brood parasites. Experimental evidence suggests that high nest predation rates may have played a role in the evolution of brood parasitism in this duck.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David J. Civitello, Teckla Angelo, Karena H. Nguyen, Rachel B. Hartman, Naima C. Starkloff, Moses P. Mahalila, Jenitha Charles, Andres Manrique, Bryan K. Delius, L. M. Bradley, Roger M. Nisbet, Safari Kinung'hi, Jason R. Rohr
Summary: Predicting and disrupting transmission of human parasites from wildlife hosts or vectors remains challenging due to ecological interactions. Resource competition among snails in the transmission of human schistosomes affects infectivity and transmission potential.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Arun Sethuraman, Alicia Tovar, Walker Welch, Ryan Dettmers, Camila Arce, Timothy Skaggs, Alexander Rothenberg, Roxane Saisho, Bryce Summerhays, Ryan Cartmill, Christy Grenier, Yumary Vasquez, Hannah Vansant, John Obrycki
Summary: The research reveals at least two independent origins of eusociality and solitary behavior in Hymenoptera, as well as two independent origins of thelytokous parthenogenesis from ancestral arrhenotoky. Additionally, accelerated rates of gene duplications, loss, and gain were observed in the lineages leading to D. coccinellae, indicating ancient divergence of Braconid wasps and rapid evolution in response to adaptations to novel hosts.
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Christine Cairns Fortuin, Kamal J. K. Gandhi
Summary: Studies show that female Osmia lignaria bees do not avoid soil with imidacloprid residue, even at the highest levels. This could have implications for risk assessment.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Jonas Rafael Rodrigues Rosoni, Carla Suertegaray Fontana, Caio Jose Carlos
Summary: This study examined the breeding ecology of the Chestnut Seedeater in southeast South America. The researchers investigated clutch size, productivity, nestling sex ratio, and nest success. They found a relationship between environmental variables and the number of active nests, and the sex ratio of nestlings did not deviate from the expected ratio. Nest success was 31%, with predation being the leading cause of nest failure. The starting date was the main predictor of nest survival.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Longwu Wang, Gangbin He, Canchao Yang, Anders Pape Moller, Wei Liang
Summary: The study found that female common cuckoos prefer large host nests for parasitism and parasitism was more common when larger, higher, and more exposed host nests were available. These results suggest that nest size and location play a role in the probability of cuckoo parasitism.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Emily W. Johnson, Susan B. McRae
Summary: This study explores the use of eggshell pattern to identify maternal signatures in birds and investigates the identification of renesting females and cases of conspecific brood parasitism. The research shows that egg pattern can be used to identify similarities among clutches and reveal previously unrecognized site fidelity and breeding interference by females when combined with spatial and temporal data.
Article
Zoology
Naoto Idogawa, Ayako Gotoh, Shigeto Dobata
Summary: This study describes the immature forms of the East Asian ant species Monomorium triviale, with a focus on the remarkable differences between queen and worker larvae. Queen larvae possess unique body features and tubercles not found in other ants, while worker larvae resemble other ant species. Both castes of pupae lack cocoons, a characteristic shared with other Myrmicinae species.
Article
Biology
Jinggang Zhang, Peter Santema, Zixuan Lin, Lixing Yang, Meijun Liu, Jianqiang Li, Wenhong Deng, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: The arms race between brood parasites and their hosts provides a classic model to study coevolution. Hosts often reject the parasitic egg, and brood parasites should therefore select host nests in which the colour of the eggs best matches that of their own. We reported on a study of Daurian redstarts, which show a distinct egg-colour dimorphism, with females laying either blue or pink eggs. The study demonstrated that cuckoos actively choose redstart nests in which the egg colour matches the colour of their own eggs, providing direct experimental evidence in support of the egg matching hypothesis.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
