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A review of myrmecophily in ant nest beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): linking early observations with recent findings

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Abstract

Myrmecophily provides various examples of how social structures can be overcome to exploit vast and well-protected resources. Ant nest beetles (Paussinae) are particularly well suited for ecological and evolutionary considerations in the context of association with ants because life habits within the subfamily range from free-living and predatory in basal taxa to obligatory myrmecophily in derived Paussini. Adult Paussini are accepted in the ant society, although parasitising the colony by preying on ant brood. Host species mainly belong to the ant families Myrmicinae and Formicinae, but at least several paussine genera are not host-specific. Morphological adaptations, such as special glands and associated tufts of hair (trichomes), characterise Paussini as typical myrmecophiles and lead to two different strategical types of body shape: while certain Paussini rely on the protective type with less exposed extremities, other genera access ant colonies using glandular secretions and trichomes (symphile type). We compare these adaptations with other taxonomic groups of insects by joining contemporary research and early sources and discuss the possibility of an attracting or appeasing effect of the secretion. Species that are ignored by their host ants might use chemical mimicry instead. Furthermore, vibrational signals may contribute to ant–beetle communication, and chemical signals have proven to play a role in host finding. The powerful defense chemistry of paussines as “bombardier beetles” is not used in contact with host ants. We attempt to trace the evolution of myrmecophily in paussines by reviewing important aspects of the association between paussine beetles and ants, i.e. morphological and potential chemical adaptations, life cycle, host specificity, alimentation, parasitism and sound production.

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Notes

  1. Specialised tufts of hair on some insects that serve to dispense chemical secretions from underlying glands (Resh and Cardé 2003).

  2. Setae are defined as hollow, often slender, hair-like cuticular projections (Gordh and Headrick 2001), which include the bristle-shaped mechanosensory sensilla chaetica and chemosensory sensilla basiconica.

  3. Paired dorsal processes that project from the posterior margin of the ninth larval tergite (Resh and Cardé 2003).

  4. The elytral series umbilicata of tactile setae is present in most species, and some Carabidomemnus display single tactile setae on the antennal scape (Luna de Carvalho 1966; Nagel 1983).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank M. E. Glyn Evans and Joachim Krüger, who kindly provided data from their laboratories. Moreover, we are grateful to Andrea di Giulio, Wendy Moore and Andreas Kaupp for fruitful discussion during the past years. Andrea di Giulio also provided the drawings of larval paussines, and Eva Weber drew the accurate pictures of adult paussines. Cesare Baroni Urbani has always been helpful with regard to any ant-related question. Furthermore, we would like to thank Sven Geiselhardt, Linda and Danel Draguljic and four anonymous reviewers for useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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  1. Institut für Biologie I, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Stefanie F. Geiselhardt & Klaus Peschke

  2. Institut für Biogeographie, Departement Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Peter Nagel

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  1. Stefanie F. Geiselhardt
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  2. Klaus Peschke
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  3. Peter Nagel
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Correspondence to Stefanie F. Geiselhardt.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 Genera of Carabidae: Paussinae, their classification as used in the present paper, distribution, number of species, and association with ants
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Geiselhardt, S.F., Peschke, K. & Nagel, P. A review of myrmecophily in ant nest beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): linking early observations with recent findings. Naturwissenschaften 94, 871–894 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-007-0271-x

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