On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle
Inter-specific symbiotic links are often reinforced by morphological, physiological, or behavioural trait modification undergone by the associated species. In some cases, such as in physogastric termitophile staphylinids, such modifications do facilitate the social interaction. Here we inspect chemi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Sociobiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/1942 |
| _version_ | 1818582704919150592 |
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| author | Cassiano Sousa Rosa Paulo Fellipe Cristaldo Daniela Faria Florencio Alessandra Marins Eraldo R Lima Og DeSouza |
| author_facet | Cassiano Sousa Rosa Paulo Fellipe Cristaldo Daniela Faria Florencio Alessandra Marins Eraldo R Lima Og DeSouza |
| author_sort | Cassiano Sousa Rosa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Inter-specific symbiotic links are often reinforced by morphological, physiological, or behavioural trait modification undergone by the associated species. In some cases, such as in physogastric termitophile staphylinids, such modifications do facilitate the social interaction. Here we inspect chemical traits of the physogastric staphylinid Corotoca melantho (Insecta: Coleoptera) and its termite host Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Insecta: Blattodea: Isoptera), aiming to verify whether staphylinids resemble their host. First, we compared CHC profiles of hosts and guests within and among termitaria, to gather evidence on the origin of such profiles in guests. Then, we examined nitrogen and carbon isotopic signatures of these cohabitants to inspect whether chemical disguise is achieved by predation of host workers by staphylinids. Beetles presented CHC more similar to the CHC of their cohabiting termites than to (i) their conspecifics and (ii) termites from another nest, thereby favouring the hypothesis on CHC acquisition by guests. Isotopic signatures revealed that such similarities could not be majorly determined by share nutrition between these cohabitants. In general, our results evidenced that chemical disguise in termitophiles may function as a strategy for social integration in morphological mimics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:53:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0ec955838af842c8894094c00330c35e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0361-6525 2447-8067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:53:37Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociobiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0ec955838af842c8894094c00330c35e2022-12-21T22:38:47ZengUniversidade Estadual de Feira de SantanaSociobiology0361-65252447-80672018-03-0165110.13102/sociobiology.v65i1.1942On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove BeetleCassiano Sousa Rosa0Paulo Fellipe Cristaldo1Daniela Faria Florencio2Alessandra Marins3Eraldo R Lima4Og DeSouza5Universidade Federal do Triangulo MineiroUniversidade Federal de SergipeUniversidade Federal Rural do Semi-ÁridoUniversidade Federal de ViçosaUniversidade Federal de ViçosaUniversidade Federal de ViçosaInter-specific symbiotic links are often reinforced by morphological, physiological, or behavioural trait modification undergone by the associated species. In some cases, such as in physogastric termitophile staphylinids, such modifications do facilitate the social interaction. Here we inspect chemical traits of the physogastric staphylinid Corotoca melantho (Insecta: Coleoptera) and its termite host Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Insecta: Blattodea: Isoptera), aiming to verify whether staphylinids resemble their host. First, we compared CHC profiles of hosts and guests within and among termitaria, to gather evidence on the origin of such profiles in guests. Then, we examined nitrogen and carbon isotopic signatures of these cohabitants to inspect whether chemical disguise is achieved by predation of host workers by staphylinids. Beetles presented CHC more similar to the CHC of their cohabiting termites than to (i) their conspecifics and (ii) termites from another nest, thereby favouring the hypothesis on CHC acquisition by guests. Isotopic signatures revealed that such similarities could not be majorly determined by share nutrition between these cohabitants. In general, our results evidenced that chemical disguise in termitophiles may function as a strategy for social integration in morphological mimics.http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/1942cohabitationConstrictotermes cyphergasterCorotoca melanthosymbiosis |
| spellingShingle | Cassiano Sousa Rosa Paulo Fellipe Cristaldo Daniela Faria Florencio Alessandra Marins Eraldo R Lima Og DeSouza On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle Sociobiology cohabitation Constrictotermes cyphergaster Corotoca melantho symbiosis |
| title | On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle |
| title_full | On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle |
| title_fullStr | On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle |
| title_short | On the Chemical Disguise of a Physogastric Termitophilous Rove Beetle |
| title_sort | on the chemical disguise of a physogastric termitophilous rove beetle |
| topic | cohabitation Constrictotermes cyphergaster Corotoca melantho symbiosis |
| url | http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/1942 |
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