Slave rebellion: a novel resistance trait

From EESwiki

Raids conducted by the North American obligate slavemaker ant Protomognathus americanus cause a severe fitness loss in their host species Temnothorax longispinosus and Temnothorax curvispinosus. Consequently hosts have developed counter-strategies to avoid parasitation, but it was long thought that selection could not alter the behavior of already enslaved host workers. Yet, recently the first indication of slave rebellion has been observed. Instead of taking care of the parasite brood, enslaved host workers kill a large proportion of the slavemaker pupae. In this project we further investigate the maintenance of this defensive behavior in a host population using field manipulation, extensive mapping of different host populations in the northeastern US and modern molecular techniques.

Contact: Tobias Pamminger, pamminger@biologie.uni-muenchen.de

Starting date: June 2009

Field trip  : June 2009 - July 2009

Costs  : We cover flight costs and travel expenses