DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Unraveling the Origin of Social Parasitism in Megalomyrmex Ants: A Phylogenetic Study Using Morphological and Molecular Characters

社会寄生，即其他社会有机体对社会的剥削，是一种普遍现象，在许多社会制度中已经独立演化了无数次。单系巨蟹属是研究寄生如何在社会社会中进化的一个很好的系统。利用综合方法，系统发育分析将揭示社会寄生虫的起源，而行为、生态和毒液生物碱信息将有助于区分社会寄生虫进化和维持所需的特征。我们将调查以下问题：1)社会寄生虫是否曾经在巨型寄生虫属中进化过？2)社会寄生性寄生虫是否源于与主要捕食性生活方式有关的行为？优点：通过收集这些数据，巨型寄生虫系统将与其他寄生虫系统相比较，从而拓宽我们对与宿主-寄生虫协会的发生和维持相关的进化过程的理解。影响：该项目将继续包括本科生的指导和培训。正在进行的合作将加强巴西和美国机构之间的联系，同时加快和发展这项研究。此外，凭证标本已经并将被存放在一家国内博物馆和五家外国博物馆。这些合作和协会不仅将使拟议的研究可行，而且将有效地传播科学知识。

Social parasitism, the exploitation of a society by other social organisms, is awidespread phenomenon that has evolved independently numerous times withinmany social systems. The monophyletic Megalomyrmex genus is an excellentsystem to investigate how parasitism evolves in a social society. Using an integrativeapproach, phylogenic analysis will reveal the origins of social parasitism, whilebehavioral, ecological, and venom alkaloid information will help distinguish thecharacteristics necessary for social parasitism to evolve and be maintained. Thefollowing questions will be investigated: 1) Did social parasitism evolve once inthe Megalomyrmex genus? 2) Did social parasitism arise from behaviorsrelated to a primarily predatory lifestyle?Merit:By gathering these data the Megalomyrmex system will be comparable with otherparasite systems, and will thus broaden our understanding of the evolutionaryprocesses associated with the onset and maintenance of host-parasite associations.Impacts:This project will continue to incorporate undergraduate mentorship and training.Ongoing collaborations will strengthen ties between Brazilian and Americaninstitutions while expediting and developing this research. In addition, voucherspecimens have and will be deposited at one domestic and five foreign museums.These collaborations and associations will not only make the proposed researchfeasible but will effectively disseminate scientific knowledge.