Mycocepurus goeldii is a species of ant in the genus Mycocepurus.[1]
| Mycocepurus goeldii | |
|---|---|
| |
| M. goeldii worker | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Genus: | Mycocepurus |
| Species: | M. goeldii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Mycocepurus goeldii (Forel, 1893)
| |
The species is parasitised by a closely related species, Mycocepurus castrator.[2] The two diverged recently, around 37,000 years ago, and evolved in the same geographic region, making the parasite–host pair an example of sympatric speciation.[3]
M. castrator is directly descended from M. goeldii, its host. Such relationships are not uncommon among social parasites, as recognized by Emery's rule. Less common are cases like M. castrator's, where two species diverge without the benefit of geographic isolation, known as sympatric speciation. Rabeling et al. (2014) analyzed divergence of mitochondrial versus nuclear DNA, finding that the nuclear alleles bore more similarities than the mitochondrial alleles. This led them to rule out the possibility of recent interbreeding, and conclude that sympatric speciation had occurred. The two species are believed to have diverged around 37,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene.[3]
In 2023 a study on fungus cultivated by lower attine ants described the fungal species cultivated by Mycocepurus goeldii as Leucocoprinus attinorum.[4]
References edit
- ^ "Species: Mycocepurus goeldii". antweb.org. AntWeb. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "Discovery: Deadbeat ant species branched off as parasite inside its own colony". Smithsonian Science. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ a b Rabeling, Christian; Schultz, Ted R.; Pierce, Naomi E.; Bacci Jr., Maurício (21 August 2014). "A Social Parasite Evolved Reproductive Isolation from Its Fungus-Growing Ant Host in Sympatry". Current Biology. 24 (17). Cell Press: 2047–2052. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.07.048. PMID 25155509.
- ^ Urrea-Valencia, Salomé; Júnior, Rodolfo Bizarria; Kooij, Pepijn W.; Montoya, Quimi Vidaurre; Rodrigues, Andre (2023-08-26). "Unraveling fungal species cultivated by lower attine ants". Mycological Progress. 22 (9): 66. doi:10.1007/s11557-023-01912-6. ISSN 1861-8952.
External links edit
Media related to Mycocepurus goeldii at Wikimedia Commons
