Social parasitism: emergence of the cuckoo strategy between pseudoscorpions

Everton Tizo-Pedroso and Kleber Del-Claro

Behavioral Ecology, 2014, vol. 25, issue 2, 335-343

Abstract: Social parasitism is an intriguing model of arms-race coevolution, in which the parasite exploits the host social system. The parasite evolves to breakdown the host’s defenses. We analyzed the role of 2 pseudoscorpion species that live in mixed colonies in the Brazilian Cerrado (tropical savannah). Multispecies aggregation is a rare phenomenon among arachnids. Mixed pseudoscorpion colonies were studied in nature and in the laboratory during a period of 7 years and the hypothesis of a relationship based on social parasitism between species was evaluated, including the main strategies involved. Experiments and direct behavioral observations indicated that the pseudoscorpion Parachernes melanopygus is a social parasite of Paratemnoides nidificator, able to invade host colonies and exploit their resources by simulating host nymphs’ behavior. Although the host species has a recognition system, the parasite evades colony defenses by using a chemical camouflage mechanism. We find support for the hypothesis of a new model of social parasitism among phylogenetically distant pseudoscorpion species. To survive in the host colony, the parasite applies a combination of strategies, previously observed in social brood parasite ants and birds. This phenomenon provides new knowledge of the Arachnida group and also for known models of social parasitism.

Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/art114 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:335-343.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().