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Lin X, Song N. The First Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Genus Pachycondyla (Formicidae, Ponerinae) and Insights into the Phylogeny of Ants. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1528. [PMID: 37628580 PMCID: PMC10454067 DOI: 10.3390/genes14081528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Ants are the standout group among eusocial insects in terms of their exceptional species richness and ecological dominance. The phylogenetic relationships among the group remain elusive. Mitochondrial genome sequences, as a kind of molecular marker, have been widely utilized in the phylogenetic analysis of insects. However, the number of ant mitogenomes published is still very limited. In this study, we utilized next-generation sequencing to determine the complete mitogenome of Pachycondyla annamita (Formicidae, Ponerinae). This is the first mitogenome from the genus Pachycondyla. Two gene rearrangements were identified in the mitogenome, the transposition of trnQ and trnM and the transposition of trnV and rrnS. The secondary structures of tRNAs were predicted. The tRNA genes trnR and trnS1 lacked the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm, and the trnE lacked the TΨC (T) arm. Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial protein-coding genes under maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) criteria resulted in conflicting hypotheses. BI analysis using amino acid data with the site-heterogeneous mixture model produced a tree topology congruent with previous studies. The Formicidae was subdivided into two main clades, namely the "poneroid" clade and the "formicoid" clade. A sister group relationship between Myrmicinae and Formicinae was recovered within the "formicoid" clade.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nan Song
- Henan International Laboratory for Green Pest Control, Henan Engineering Laboratory of Pest Biological Control, College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China;
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Zhang XM, Li T, Liu X, Xu ZH. Characterization and Phylogenetic Implication of Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Medicinal Ant Formica sinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Genomic Comparisons in Formicidae. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2022; 59:1971-1979. [PMID: 36209399 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjac128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are among the largest and most widespread families of terrestrial insects and are valuable to medical and ecological investigations. The mitochondrial genome has been widely used as a reliable genetic marker for species identification and phylogenetic analyses. To further understand the mitogenome-level characteristics of the congeneric Formicidae species, the complete mitogenome of Formica sinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) was sequenced, annotated, and compared with other 48 Formicidae species. The results showed that gene composition, content, and codon usage were conserved. The complete mitochondrial genome of F. sinae was 17,432 bp, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and one control region located between rrnS and trnM, which was 1,256 bp long, the longest of all sequenced species. Gene rearrangement was not detected in Formica species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). All PCGs of F. sinae were initiated with ATN codons and terminated with the TAA codon. The overall nucleotide composition of F. sinae was AT-biased (83.51%), being 80.58% in PCGs, 86.68% in tRNAs, 87.10% in rRNAs, and 88.70% in the control region. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that each subfamily formed a strongly monophyletic group. Furthermore, F. sinae clustered with Formica fusca (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Formica selysi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). This work enhances the genetic data of Formicidae and contributes to our understanding of their phylogenic relationship, evolution, and utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin-Min Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, College of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan 650224, China
| | - Ting Li
- Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, College of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan 650224, China
| | - Xia Liu
- Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, College of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan 650224, China
| | - Zheng-Hui Xu
- Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, College of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan 650224, China
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Alajmi R, Haddadi R, Abdel-Gaber R, Alkuriji M. Molecular phylogeny of Monomorium pharaonis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) based on rRNA sequences of mitochondrial gene. J Genet 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s12041-020-1186-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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4
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Extreme positive allometry of animal adhesive pads and the size limits of adhesion-based climbing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:1297-302. [PMID: 26787862 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1519459113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Organismal functions are size-dependent whenever body surfaces supply body volumes. Larger organisms can develop strongly folded internal surfaces for enhanced diffusion, but in many cases areas cannot be folded so that their enlargement is constrained by anatomy, presenting a problem for larger animals. Here, we study the allometry of adhesive pad area in 225 climbing animal species, covering more than seven orders of magnitude in weight. Across all taxa, adhesive pad area showed extreme positive allometry and scaled with weight, implying a 200-fold increase of relative pad area from mites to geckos. However, allometric scaling coefficients for pad area systematically decreased with taxonomic level and were close to isometry when evolutionary history was accounted for, indicating that the substantial anatomical changes required to achieve this increase in relative pad area are limited by phylogenetic constraints. Using a comparative phylogenetic approach, we found that the departure from isometry is almost exclusively caused by large differences in size-corrected pad area between arthropods and vertebrates. To mitigate the expected decrease of weight-specific adhesion within closely related taxa where pad area scaled close to isometry, data for several taxa suggest that the pads' adhesive strength increased for larger animals. The combination of adjustments in relative pad area for distantly related taxa and changes in adhesive strength for closely related groups helps explain how climbing with adhesive pads has evolved in animals varying over seven orders of magnitude in body weight. Our results illustrate the size limits of adhesion-based climbing, with profound implications for large-scale bio-inspired adhesives.
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Muscedere ML, Gronenberg W, Moreau CS, Traniello JFA. Investment in higher order central processing regions is not constrained by brain size in social insects. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:20140217. [PMID: 24741016 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The extent to which size constrains the evolution of brain organization and the genesis of complex behaviour is a central, unanswered question in evolutionary neuroscience. Advanced cognition has long been linked to the expansion of specific brain compartments, such as the neocortex in vertebrates and the mushroom bodies in insects. Scaling constraints that limit the size of these brain regions in small animals may therefore be particularly significant to behavioural evolution. Recent findings from studies of paper wasps suggest miniaturization constrains the size of central sensory processing brain centres (mushroom body calyces) in favour of peripheral, sensory input centres (antennal and optic lobes). We tested the generality of this hypothesis in diverse eusocial hymenopteran species (ants, bees and wasps) exhibiting striking variation in body size and thus brain size. Combining multiple neuroanatomical datasets from these three taxa, we found no universal size constraint on brain organization within or among species. In fact, small-bodied ants with miniscule brains had mushroom body calyces proportionally as large as or larger than those of wasps and bees with brains orders of magnitude larger. Our comparative analyses suggest that brain organization in ants is shaped more by natural selection imposed by visual demands than intrinsic design limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario L Muscedere
- Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, Boston University, , 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA, Department of Neuroscience, University of Arizona, , 611 Gould-Simpson Science Building, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA, Department of Science and Education, Field Museum of Natural History, , 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA, Department of Biology, Boston University, , 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Moreau CS, Bell CD. TESTING THE MUSEUM VERSUS CRADLE TROPICAL BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY HYPOTHESIS: PHYLOGENY, DIVERSIFICATION, AND ANCESTRAL BIOGEOGRAPHIC RANGE EVOLUTION OF THE ANTS. Evolution 2013; 67:2240-57. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 255] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2011] [Accepted: 03/01/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Corrie S. Moreau
- Department of Zoology; Field Museum of Natural History; 1400 South Lake Shore Drive Chicago Illinois 60605
| | - Charles D. Bell
- Department of Biological Sciences; University of New Orleans; 2000 Lakeshore Drive New Orleans Louisiana 70148
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Godoy BS, Camargos LMD. Does body size of neotropical ant species influence their recruitment speed? BIOTA NEOTROPICA 2013. [DOI: 10.1590/s1676-06032013000100010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Ants are one of the most important animal groups in tropical forests because of its abundance and number of species. An important characteristic of the group is the eusociality, which allows the occurrence of a recruitment behavior when food resource is found. However, there are two main questions regarding this behavior: (i) the recruitment is a product of environmental or phylogenetic pressures, and (ii) the recruitment speed is related to the body size of the ant species. In this work we addressed these two questions using 17 species of neotropical ants, in the Amazonic lowland dense rain forest. According to results, recruitment behavior is related to ant size, where smaller species exhibit this trait when finding a protein resource. However, species size is not important in recruitment speed, which suggests that speed can be best explained by the type of food resources needed in the ant colony.
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Wang B, Xiao JH, Bian SN, Niu LM, Murphy RW, Huang DW. Evolution and expression plasticity of opsin genes in a fig pollinator, Ceratosolen solmsi. PLoS One 2013; 8:e53907. [PMID: 23342036 PMCID: PMC3547053 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2012] [Accepted: 12/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Figs and fig pollinators have co-evolved species-specific systems of mutualism. So far, it was unknown how visual opsin genes of pollinators have evolved in the light conditions inside their host figs. We cloned intact full-length mRNA sequences of four opsin genes from a species of fig pollinator, Ceratosolen solmsi, and tested for selective pressure and expressional plasticity of these genes. Molecular evolutionary analysis indicated that the four opsin genes evolved under different selective constraints. Subsets of codons in the two long wavelength sensitive opsin (LW1, LW2) genes were positively selected in ancestral fig pollinators. The ultraviolet sensitive opsin (UV) gene was under strong purifying selection, whereas a relaxation of selective constrains occurred on several amino acids in the blue opsin. RT-qPCR analysis suggested that female and male fig pollinators had different expression patterns possibly due to their distinct lifestyles and different responses to light within the syconia. Co-evolutionary history with figs might have influenced the evolution and expression plasticity of opsin genes in fig pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Wang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jin-Hua Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Sheng-Nan Bian
- Plant Protection College, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
| | - Li-Ming Niu
- Environment and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou, Hainan, China
| | - Robert W. Murphy
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Da-Wei Huang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Plant Protection College, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
- * E-mail:
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Cárdenas M, Jiroš P, Pekár S. Selective olfactory attention of a specialised predator to intraspecific chemical signals of its prey. Naturwissenschaften 2012; 99:597-605. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-0938-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2012] [Revised: 06/18/2012] [Accepted: 06/22/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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10
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JANSEN GUNTHER, SAVOLAINEN RIITTA. Molecular phylogeny of the ant tribe Myrmicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zool J Linn Soc 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00604.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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11
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Jansen G, Savolainen R, Vepsäläinen K. Phylogeny, divergence-time estimation, biogeography and social parasite-host relationships of the Holarctic ant genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2010; 56:294-304. [PMID: 20159044 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2009] [Revised: 01/26/2010] [Accepted: 01/27/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
We reconstructed a molecular phylogeny of the ant genus Myrmica, tested reciprocal monophyly of the Nearctic and Palearctic representatives, and inferred social parasite-host relationships for five workerless inquilines and four temporary parasites. We sequenced six gene fragments of 106 specimens (17 not identified to species), analysed the data with Bayesian phylogenetic inference and maximum likelihood, and estimated divergence times using penalized likelihood. Our well resolved phylogeny supported most morphologically defined species groups. The Nearctic and Palearctic species were not reciprocally monophyletic, which suggested repeated species interchange across the Beringian land bridge. Parasitism evolved several times in Myrmica. Three inquilines and one temporary parasite were closest relatives of their host, two inquiline species and one temporary parasite clustered basally to their host(s), and two temporary parasites more distantly. Myrmica probably diversified following drastic climatic cooling at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary ca. 34 Ma, the oldest species groups being rugosa and ritae in central and southeastern Asia. The oldest inquiline, Myrmica karavajevi, was estimated at 17 Ma, the youngest species M. hirsuta at 0.8 Ma, whereas the microgyne of M.rubra is an intraspecific inquiline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gunther Jansen
- Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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12
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Brandão CRF, Diniz JLM, Feitosa RM. The venom apparatus and other morphological characters of the ant Martialis heureka (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Martialinae). PAPÉIS AVULSOS DE ZOOLOGIA 2010. [DOI: 10.1590/s0031-10492010002600001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe and illustrate the venom apparatus and other morphological characters of the recently described Martialis heureka ant worker, a supposedly specialized subterranean predator which could be the sole surviving representative of a highly divergent lineage that arose near the dawn of ant diversification. M. heureka was described as the single species of a genus in the subfamily, Martialinae Rabeling and Verhaagh, known from a single worker. However because the authors had available a unique specimen, dissections and scanning electron microscopy from coated specimens were not possible. We base our study on two worker individuals collected in Manaus, AM, Brazil in 1998 and maintained in 70% alcohol since then; the ants were partially destroyed because of desiccation during transport to São Paulo and subsequent efforts to rescue them from the vial. We were able to recover two left mandibles, two pronota, one dismembered fore coxa, one meso-metapropodeal complex with the median and hind coxae and trochanters still attached, one postpetiole, two gastric tergites, the pygidium and the almost complete venom apparatus (lacking the gonostylus and anal plate). We illustrate and describe the pieces, and compare M. heureka worker morphology with other basal ant subfamilies, concluding it does merit subfamilial status.
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14
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Viljakainen L, Evans JD, Hasselmann M, Rueppell O, Tingek S, Pamilo P. Rapid Evolution of Immune Proteins in Social Insects. Mol Biol Evol 2009; 26:1791-801. [DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msp086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
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15
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Perrichot V, Nel A, Néraudeau D, Lacau S, Guyot T. New fossil ants in French Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Naturwissenschaften 2007; 95:91-7. [PMID: 17828384 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-007-0302-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2007] [Revised: 08/07/2007] [Accepted: 08/11/2007] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies on the ant phylogeny are mainly based on the molecular analyses of extant subfamilies and do not include the extinct, only Cretaceous subfamily Sphecomyrminae. However, the latter is of major importance for ant relationships, as it is considered the most basal subfamily. Therefore, each new discovery of a Mesozoic ant is of high interest for improving our understanding of their early history and basal relationships. In this paper, a new sphecomyrmine ant, allied to the Burmese amber genus Haidomyrmex, is described from mid-Cretaceous amber of France as Haidomyrmodes mammuthus gen. and sp. n. The diagnosis of the tribe Haidomyrmecini is emended based on the new type material, which includes a gyne (alate female) and two incomplete workers. The genus Sphecomyrmodes, hitherto known by a single species from Burmese amber, is also reported and a new species described as S. occidentalis sp. n. after two workers remarkably preserved in a single piece of Early Cenomanian French amber. The new fossils provide additional information on early ant diversity and relationships and demonstrate that the monophyly of the Sphecomyrminae, as currently defined, is still weakly supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Perrichot
- Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
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Forest F, Chase MW, Persson C, Crane PR, Hawkins JA. THE ROLE OF BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC FACTORS IN EVOLUTION OF ANT DISPERSAL IN THE MILKWORT FAMILY (POLYGALACEAE). Evolution 2007; 61:1675-94. [PMID: 17598748 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00138.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A phylogenetic approach was taken to investigate the evolutionary history of seed appendages in the plant family Polygalaceae (Fabales) and determine which factors might be associated with evolution of elaiosomes through comparisons to abiotic (climate) and biotic (ant species number and abundance) timelines. Molecular datasets from three plastid regions representing 160 species were used to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree of the order Fabales, focusing on Polygalaceae. Bayesian dating methods were used to estimate the age of the appearance of ant-dispersed elaiosomes in Polygalaceae, shown by likelihood optimizations to have a single origin in the family. Topology-based tests indicated a diversification rate shift associated with appearance of caruncular elaiosomes. We show that evolution of the caruncular elaiosome type currently associated with ant dispersal occurred 54.0-50.5 million year ago. This is long after an estimated increase in ant lineages in the Late Cretaceous based on molecular studies, but broadly concomitant with increasing global temperatures culminating in the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene thermal maxima. These results suggest that although most major ant clades were present when elaiosomes appeared, the environmental significance of elaiosomes may have been an important factor in success of elaiosome-bearing lineages. Ecological abundance of ants is perhaps more important than lineage numbers in determining significance of ant dispersal. Thus, our observation that elaiosomes predate increased ecological abundance of ants inferred from amber deposits could be indicative of an initial abiotic environmental function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Félix Forest
- Molecular Systematics Section, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, United Kingdom.
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Ouellette GD, Fisher BL, Girman DJ. Molecular systematics of basal subfamilies of ants using 28S rRNA (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2006; 40:359-69. [PMID: 16630727 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2005] [Revised: 03/03/2006] [Accepted: 03/14/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
For many years, the ant subfamily Ponerinae was hypothesized to contain the basal (early branching) lineages of ants. Recently the Ponerinae were reclassified into six poneromorph subfamilies based on morphological analysis. We evaluate this new poneromorph classification using 1240 base pairs of DNA sequence data obtained from 28S rRNA gene sequences of 68 terminal taxa. The molecular tree supported the monophyly of the ant family Formicidae, with 100% parsimony bootstrap (PB) support and posterior probabilities (PP) of 1.00, with the ant subfamily Leptanillinae as a sister group to all other ants (PB=62, PP=93). However, our analyses strongly support the polyphyly of the Poneromorph subfamilies (sensu Bolton). The Ectatomminae and Heteroponerinae are more closely related to the Formicoid subfamilies than to the rest of the poneromophs (PB=96, PP=100). The Amblyoponinae (PB=52, PP=96), Paraponerinae (PB=100, PP=100), Ponerinae (PB<50, PP=71), and Proceratiinae (PB=98, PP=100) appear as distinct lineages at the base of the tree and are identified as a poneroid grade. Monophyletic origins for the poneroid subfamilies Amblyoponinae, Paraponerinae, Ponerinae and Proceratiinae are supported in our analysis. However, the genus Platythyrea forms a distinct sister group to the Ponerini within the Ponerinae. The Heteroponerinae, based on our sample of Heteroponera, are associated with the subfamily Ectatomminae (PB=98, PP=100). Furthermore, our data indicate the genus Probolomyrmex belongs to the Proceratiinae as suggested by recent morphological analysis (PB=98, PP=100).
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary D Ouellette
- Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, 875 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
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Moreau CS, Bell CD, Vila R, Archibald SB, Pierce NE. Phylogeny of the Ants: Diversification in the Age of Angiosperms. Science 2006; 312:101-4. [PMID: 16601190 DOI: 10.1126/science.1124891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 422] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
We present a large-scale molecular phylogeny of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), based on 4.5 kilobases of sequence data from six gene regions extracted from 139 of the 288 described extant genera, representing 19 of the 20 subfamilies. All but two subfamilies are recovered as monophyletic. Divergence time estimates calibrated by minimum age constraints from 43 fossils indicate that most of the subfamilies representing extant ants arose much earlier than previously proposed but only began to diversify during the Late Cretaceous to Early Eocene. This period also witnessed the rise of angiosperms and most herbivorous insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corrie S Moreau
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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Wilson EO, Hölldobler B. The rise of the ants: a phylogenetic and ecological explanation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005; 102:7411-4. [PMID: 15899976 PMCID: PMC1140440 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0502264102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past two decades, studies of anatomy, behavior, and, most recently, DNA sequences have clarified the phylogeny of the ants at the subfamily and generic levels. In addition, a rich new harvest of Cretaceous and Paleogene fossils has helped to date the major evolutionary radiations. We collate this information and then add data from the natural history of the modern fauna to sketch a history of major ecological adaptations at the subfamily level. The key events appear to have been, first, a mid-Cretaceous initial radiation in forest ground litter and soil coincident with the rise of the angiosperms (flowering plants), then a Paleogene advance to ecological dominance in concert with that of the angiosperms in tropical forests, and, finally, an expansion of some of the lineages, aided by changes in diet away from dependence on predation, upward into the canopy, and outward into more xeric environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward O Wilson
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138-2902, USA.
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Janda M, Folková D, Zrzavý J. Phylogeny of Lasius ants based on mitochondrial DNA and morphology, and the evolution of social parasitism in the Lasiini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2004; 33:595-614. [PMID: 15522790 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2004.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2004] [Revised: 05/31/2004] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Phylogeny of ants of the tribe Lasiini (Lasius, Acanthomyops, Prenolepis, Euprenolepis, Paratrechina, Pseudolasius, and Myrmecocystus) was analysed using 81 morphological, ecological, and behavioural characters (for 41 species) and mitochondrial DNA sequences (COI, COII, tRNA-Leu; for 19 species). The free-living subgenus Lasius s. str. is paraphyletic with respect to the rest of genus; the traditional "genus" Acanthomyops should be considered a part of Lasius s. lat.; free-living subgenus Cautolasius is a member of the clade of socially parasitic Lasius ants (=Chtonolasius+Acanthomyops+Austrolasius+Dendrolasius). The tree topology is congruent with two alternative scenarios of origin of the temporary social parasitism: (i) a single origin of the parasitic strategy in a derived subclade of Lasius and a secondary loss of this trait in Cautolasius, (ii) a parallel origin of the social parasitism within the clade of hypogeic Lasius ants (in Chtonolasius, and in Acanthomyops+Dendrolasius+Austrolasius). Emery's rule in the strict sense does not apply to this group because most parasites exploit any ecologically available, even phylogenetically distant host species. The parasitic strategy in Lasius could have originated from the aggressive interactions between cofounding queens during pleometric colony founding and/or from the secondary queen adoption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milan Janda
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branisovská 31, 37005 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic
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