TY - JOUR
T1 - Foe to frenemy
T2 - predacious ant nest beetles use multiple strategies to fully integrate into ant nests
AU - Moore, Wendy
AU - Scarparo, Giulia
AU - Di Giulio, Andrea
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Peter Nagel, Eduardo Luna De Carvalho, and James Robertson for stimulating discussions about ant nest beetles through the years. We also thank Maurizio Muzzi for allowing us to use several photos he took for Figure 1 and Carlos Martinez for his help editing Video 1. The Grant of Excellence Departments, MIUR-Italy ( ARTICOLO 1, COMMI 314 – 337 LEGGE 232/2016 ) to the Department of Science of Roma Tre University is gratefully acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - Ant nest beetles (Carabidae, Paussinae, Paussini; Paussus) are renowned myrmecophiles, mostly known for their bizarre and diverse antennal shape. While little is known about their development, behavior and host range, we do know they spend most of their lives inside ant nests, feeding upon the hemolymph of ant brood and teneral workers. Recent findings suggest these beetles use a surprisingly complex strategy for interacting and deceiving ants. They have managed to break into multiple communication channels that ants use to recognize and communicate with one another in order to deceive the ants and profit from the rich resources of the nest. Mounting evidence from structural, chemical, acoustic, and behavioral studies support the hypothesis that Paussus is among the most highly integrated parasite of social insects known to date.
AB - Ant nest beetles (Carabidae, Paussinae, Paussini; Paussus) are renowned myrmecophiles, mostly known for their bizarre and diverse antennal shape. While little is known about their development, behavior and host range, we do know they spend most of their lives inside ant nests, feeding upon the hemolymph of ant brood and teneral workers. Recent findings suggest these beetles use a surprisingly complex strategy for interacting and deceiving ants. They have managed to break into multiple communication channels that ants use to recognize and communicate with one another in order to deceive the ants and profit from the rich resources of the nest. Mounting evidence from structural, chemical, acoustic, and behavioral studies support the hypothesis that Paussus is among the most highly integrated parasite of social insects known to date.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100921
DO - 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100921
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35390506
AN - SCOPUS:85130316649
SN - 2214-5745
VL - 52
JO - Current Opinion in Insect Science
JF - Current Opinion in Insect Science
M1 - 100921
ER -