Molecular identification of polymorphic transposable elements in populations of the invasive ant .

Transposable elements (TEs) are found in virtually every eukaryotic genome and are important for generating genetic variation. However, outside of costly and time-consuming whole-genome sequencing approaches, the set of available methods to study TE polymorphisms in non-model species is very limited. The Transposon Display (TD) is a simple yet effective technique to characterize polymorphisms across samples by identifying amplified fragment length polymorphisms using primers targeting specific TE families.

Causes and consequences of a complex recombinational landscape in the ant .

Eusocial Hymenoptera have the highest recombination rates among all multicellular animals studied so far, but it is unclear why this is and how this affects the biology of individual species. A high-resolution linkage map for the ant corroborates genome-wide high recombination rates reported for ants (8.1 cM/Mb).

Individualized social niches in animals: Theoretical clarifications and processes of niche change.

What are social niches, and how do they arise and change? Our first goal in the present article is to clarify the concept of an individualized social niche and to distinguish it from related concepts, such as a social environment and a social role. We argue that focal individuals are integral parts of individualized social niches and that social interactions with conspecifics are further core elements of social niches. Our second goal in the present article is to characterize three types of processes-social niche construction, conformance, and choice (social NC processes)-that explain how individualized social niches originate and change.

Tyramine and its receptor modulate attention in honey bees ().

Animals must learn to ignore stimuli that are irrelevant to survival and attend to ones that enhance survival. When a stimulus regularly fails to be associated with an important consequence, subsequent excitatory learning about that stimulus can be delayed, which is a form of nonassociative conditioning called 'latent inhibition'. Honey bees show latent inhibition toward an odor they have experienced without association with food reinforcement.

Decoding the genetic and chemical basis of sexual attractiveness in parasitic wasps.

Attracting and securing potential mating partners is of fundamental importance for reproduction. Therefore, signaling sexual attractiveness is expected to be tightly coordinated in communication systems synchronizing senders and receivers. Chemical signaling has permeated through all taxa of life as the earliest and most widespread form of communication and is particularly prevalent in insects.

Body mass and cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, but not queen number, underlie worker desiccation resistance in a facultatively polygynous harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus).

As small-bodied terrestrial organisms, insects face severe desiccation risks in arid environments, and these risks are increasing under climate change. Here, we investigate the physiological, chemical, and behavioral mechanisms by which harvester ants, one of the most abundant arid-adapted insect groups, cope with desiccating environmental conditions. We aimed to understand how body size, cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, and queen number impact worker desiccation resistance in the facultatively polygynous harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus.

How Individualized Niches Arise: Defining Mechanisms of Niche Construction, Niche Choice, and Niche Conformance.

Organisms interact with their environments in various ways. We present a conceptual framework that distinguishes three mechanisms of organism-environment interaction. We call these : niche construction, in which individuals make changes to the environment; niche choice, in which individuals select an environment; and niche conformance, in which individuals adjust their phenotypes in response to the environment.

Genetic and genomic architecture of species-specific cuticular hydrocarbon variation in parasitoid wasps.

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) serve two fundamental functions in insects: protection against desiccation and chemical signalling. How the interaction of genes shapes CHC profiles, which are essential for insect survival, adaptation and reproductive success, is still poorly understood. Here we investigate the genetic and genomic basis of CHC biosynthesis and variation in parasitoid wasps of the genus .

Long-Read Assembly and Annotation of the Parasitoid Wasp , a Biological Control Agent for Filth Flies.

The parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is a gregarious species that has received extensive attention for its potential in biological pest control against house fly, stable fly, and other filth flies. It has a high reproductive capacity and can be reared easily. However, genome assembly is not available for or any other species in this genus.

Lack of parent-of-origin effects in Nasonia jewel wasp: A replication and extension study.

In diploid cells, the paternal and maternal alleles are, on average, equally expressed. There are exceptions from this: a small number of genes express the maternal or paternal allele copy exclusively. This phenomenon, known as genomic imprinting, is common among eutherian mammals and some plant species; however, genomic imprinting in species with haplodiploid sex determination is not well characterized.

Inhibition of HSP90 causes morphological variation in the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior.

Canalization underlies the expression of steady phenotypes in the face of unsteady environmental conditions or varying genetic backgrounds. The chaperone HSP90 has been identified as a key component of the molecular machinery regulating canalization and a growing body of research suggests that HSP90 could act as a general capacitator in evolution. However, empirical data about HSP90-dependent phenotypic variation and its evolutionary impact is still scarce, particularly for non-model species.

Genome assembly and annotation of the California harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus.

The harvester ant genus Pogonomyrmex is endemic to arid and semiarid habitats and deserts of North and South America. The California harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus is the most widely distributed Pogonomyrmex species in North America. Pogonomyrmex californicus colonies are usually monogynous, i.

Comprehensive phylogeny of Myrmecocystus honey ants highlights cryptic diversity and infers evolution during aridification of the American Southwest.

The New World ant genus Myrmecocystus Wesmael, 1838 (Formicidae: Formicinae: Lasiini) is endemic to arid and semi-arid habitats of the western United States and Mexico. Several intriguing life history traits have been described for the genus, the best-known of which are replete workers, that store liquified food in their largely expanded crops and are colloquially referred to as "honeypots". Despite their interesting biology and ecological importance for arid ecosystems, the evolutionary history of Myrmecocystus ants is largely unknown and the current taxonomy presents an unsatisfactory systematic framework.

The Power of Infochemicals in Mediating Individualized Niches.

Infochemicals, including hormones, pheromones, and allelochemicals, play a central role in mediating information and shaping interactions within and between individuals. Due to their high plasticity, infochemicals are predestined mediators in facilitating individualized niches of organisms. Only recently it has become clear that individual differences are essential to understand how and why individuals realize a tiny subset of the species' niche.

Individual learning phenotypes drive collective behavior.

Individual differences in learning can influence how animals respond to and communicate about their environment, which may nonlinearly shape how a social group accomplishes a collective task. There are few empirical examples of how differences in collective dynamics emerge from variation among individuals in cognition. Here, we use a naturally variable and heritable learning behavior called latent inhibition (LI) to show that interactions among individuals that differ in this cognitive ability drive collective foraging behavior in honey bee colonies.

Functional insights from the GC-poor genomes of two aphid parasitoids, Aphidius ervi and Lysiphlebus fabarum.

Background: Parasitoid wasps have fascinating life cycles and play an important role in trophic networks, yet little is known about their genome content and function. Parasitoids that infect aphids are an important group with the potential for biological control. Their success depends on adapting to develop inside aphids and overcoming both host aphid defenses and their protective endosymbionts.

Detection of very long-chain hydrocarbons by laser mass spectrometry reveals novel species-, sex-, and age-dependent differences in the cuticular profiles of three Nasonia species.

Long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) are key components of chemical communication in many insects. The parasitoid jewel wasps from the genus Nasonia use their CHC profile as sex pheromone and for species recognition. The standard analytical tool to analyze CHC is gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric detection (GC/MS).

Genetic Incompatibilities Between Mitochondria and Nuclear Genes: Effect on Gene Flow and Speciation.

The process of speciation is, according to the biological species concept, the reduction in gene flow between genetically diverging populations. Most of the previous theoretical studies analyzed the effect of nuclear genetic incompatibilities on gene flow. There is, however, an increasing number of empirical examples suggesting that cytoplasmically inherited genetic elements play an important role in speciation.

Individual differences in learning and biogenic amine levels influence the behavioural division between foraging honeybee scouts and recruits.

Animals must effectively balance the time they spend exploring the environment for new resources and exploiting them. One way that social animals accomplish this balance is by allocating these two tasks to different individuals. In honeybees, foraging is divided between scouts, which tend to explore the landscape for novel resources, and recruits, which tend to exploit these resources.

Task allocation and site fidelity jointly influence foraging regulation in honeybee colonies.

Variation in behaviour among group members often impacts collective outcomes. Individuals may vary both in the task that they perform and in the persistence with which they perform each task. Although both the distribution of individuals among tasks and differences among individuals in behavioural persistence can each impact collective behaviour, we do not know if and how they jointly affect collective outcomes.

Expression differences in (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) females reared on different aphid host species.

The molecular mechanisms that allow generalist parasitoids to exploit many, often very distinct hosts are practically unknown. The wasp a generalist koinobiont parasitoid of aphids, was introduced from Europe into Chile in the late 1970s to control agriculturally important aphid species. A recent study showed significant differences in host preference and host acceptance (infectivity) depending on the host were reared on.

The hologenome concept: we need to incorporate function.

Are we in the midst of a paradigm change in biology and have animals and plants lost their individuality, i.e., are even so-called 'typical' organisms no longer organisms in their own right? Is the study of the holobiont-host plus its symbiotic microorganisms-no longer optional, but rather an obligatory path that must be taken for a comprehensive understanding of the ecology and evolution of the individual components that make up a holobiont? Or are associated microbes merely a component of their host's environment, and the holobiont concept is just a beautiful idea that does not add much or anything to our understanding of evolution? This article explores different aspects of the concept of the holobiont.