New research article! 📰

Geisse et al. reveal how a parasite ant infiltrates a fungus-farming ant colony by exploiting its host’s own chemical signals and regulate a whole multispecies community 🍄
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #SocialParasitism #Myrmecology #ChemicalEcology #Symbiosis

Our #SysBioDiv keynote speakers truly impressed yesterday at #DZG2026! Thanks to Daniela Mera-Rodriguez (Uni Hohenheim) and Sven Rossel (Senckenberg am Meer) for their excellent talks on leaf-cutting ant #biodiversity #socialparasitism 🐜🌿 and #proteomics species identification 🧬🦐🪼

T. duloticus might be even closer to T. curvispinosus than T. minutissimus, but I couldn't fully resolve that.

#Temnothorax #Cardiocondylini (#Formicoxenus group) #ants #phylogeny #socialparasitism

Unfortunately, two very interesting social parasite species - workerless inquiline #Temnothorax #minutissimus and slavemaker T. #duloticus - seem to be missing from this study
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...

#phylogeny #ants #parasitism #SocialParasitism #workerless #inquiline #slavemaker

Here's a more comprehensive phylogeny [by me]. Social parasite ants are so cool!

#SocialParasitism #workerless #inquiline #slavemaker #ants #phylogeny #EvolutionaryTree #TreeOfLife #Formicoxenus #Leptothorax #Harpagoxenus #Temnothorax

Rising Tide of Social Parasitism and its Implications #capitalism #labour #economics #communities #socialparasitism countercurrents.org/2024/05/risi...

More of a job than being one in real life. #SocialParasitism

ℹ️ Read the full article via the link in our bio or at: sl1nk.com/u5hjoxo

❓ Have you ever come across the tiny ants of the genus Plagiolepis? Let us know in the comments!
#AIM #Myrmecology #SocialParasitism #Plagiolepis #Biodiversity

New short communication article! 📄

Teixeira et al. mined Illumina genomes to show that A. octospinosus and its parasite share nine satellite DNA families with lineage-specific amplification–degeneration patterns 📊
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Acromyrmex #Genomics #SocialParasitism

New short communication! 📄

Kanwar et al. revealed contrasting social structures in Dorymyrmex ants: D. smithi shows supercolonial traits, while D. bureni exhibits strong nest-specific aggression. ⚔

🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Behavior #SocialParasitism #Entomology