Gw. Elmes et al., Extreme host specificity by Microdon mutabilis (Diptera : Syrphidae), a social parasite of ants, P ROY SOC B, 266(1418), 1999, pp. 447-453
Citations number
36
Categorie Soggetti
Experimental Biology
Journal title
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Larvae of the syrphid fly Microdan mutabilis are social parasites which liv
e up to two years, feeding on ant brood in nests of Formica lemani ants. We
questioned why M mutabilis is extremely localized when its host is widespr
ead and abundant. Like endoparasitic diseases, social parasites must penetr
ate formidable defences before 'infecting' their hosts. This occurs during
the egg stage of M. mutabilis: females are sedentary and oviposit at ii: le
mani nest entrances, which workers treat as part of their nest, leaving the
thin-shelled eggs vulnerable to attack for 10-14 days before hatching. We
describe experiments which show a strong maternal effect in M. mutabilis. N
ew-laid eggs had > 95% survival when introduced to the individual ant colon
y that reared each mother fly or to its close neighbours, but survival decl
ined as a sigmoidal logistic function of distance from the mother nest, wit
h F. lemani colonies from 2 and 30 km away killing 80 and > 99% of eggs, re
spectively, within 24h. Attacks on eggs also increased in proportion to the
delay before introduction to laboratory nests. We suggest that they may be
coated with a mimetic chemical disguise that lasts for three to four days
after oviposition. The results indicate extreme local adaptation by an M. m
utabilis population not simply to one species of host, but to an individual
host population and possibly to local strains or family groups within an F
. lemani population. This conclusion is discussed in terms of virulence, tr
ansmission and coevolution in parasitic diseases.