Larval helpers and age polyethism in ambrosia beetles
Larval helpers and age polyethism in ambrosia beetles
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1107758108
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发表时间：
2011-10-11
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Taborsky, Michael
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Biedermann, Peter H. W.;Taborsky, Michael
昆虫社会的工蜂之间的分工是它们生物学的一个显著特征。社会任务通常在年龄组之间分担，但在形态完全不同的幼虫和成虫之间却不分担，如蜜蜂、黄蜂、蚂蚁和甲虫（即，Holometabola）。一个独特的但几乎没有研究过的全变态昆虫群是仙食甲虫。沿着的还有一个蚂蚁部落和一个白蚁亚科，木栖仙粮虫是唯一的培养真菌的昆虫谱系，这一特性被预测有利于合作和分工。他们的社会性还没有得到充分的证明，因为行为观察一直缺失。在这里，我们提出的行为数据和实验从巢内的一个ambrosia甲虫，Xyleborinus saxesenii。幼虫和成年后代的一个单一的foundress合作育雏护理，画廊维护，真菌园艺，表现出明确的分工之间的幼虫和成年殖民地成员。扩大画廊，并参与育雏护理和画廊卫生。在殖民地的成年雌性的合作努力和它们的分散时间取决于同胞受体（幼虫和蛹）的数量，母亲的存在，以及成年工人的数量。这表明，利他主义的帮助是由依赖于照顾的幼仔的需求引发的。因此，豚草甲虫不仅具有高度的社会性，而且还表现出一种特殊的劳动分工形式，这在全变态昆虫中是独一无二的。
Division of labor among the workers of insect societies is a conspicuous feature of their biology. Social tasks are commonly shared among age groups but not between larvae and adults with completely different morphologies, as in bees, wasps, ants, and beetles (i.e., Holometabola). A unique yet hardly studied holometabolous group of insects is the ambrosia beetles. Along with one tribe of ants and one subfamily of termites, wood-dwelling ambrosia beetles are the only insect lineage culturing fungi, a trait predicted to favor cooperation and division of labor. Their sociality has not been fully demonstrated, because behavioral observations have been missing. Here we present behavioral data and experiments from within nests of an ambrosia beetle, Xyleborinus saxesenii. Larval and adult offspring of a single foundress cooperate in brood care, gallery maintenance, and fungus gardening, showing a clear division of labor between larval and adult colony members. Larvae enlarge the gallery and participate in brood care and gallery hygiene. The cooperative effort of adult females in the colony and the timing of their dispersal depend on the number of sibling recipients (larvae and pupae), on the presence of the mother, and on the number of adult workers. This suggests that altruistic help is triggered by demands of brood dependent on care. Thus, ambrosia beetles are not only highly social but also show a special form of division of labor that is unique among holometabolous insects.