ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6731-8684
Current Organisations
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
,
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
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Animal behaviour | Evolutionary ecology | Zoology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-03-2022
DOI: 10.1111/EVO.14457
Abstract: Colonies of social insects contain large amounts of resources often exploited by specialized social parasites. Although some termite species host numerous parasitic arthropod species, called termitophiles, others host none. The reason for this large variability remains unknown. Here, we report that the evolution of termitophily in rove beetles is linked to termite nesting strategies. We compared one-piece nesters, whose entire colony life is completed within a single wood piece, to foraging species, which exploit multiple physically separated food sources. Our epidemiological model predicts that characteristics related to foraging (e.g., extended colony longevity and frequent interactions with other colonies) increase the probability of parasitism by termitophiles. We tested our prediction using literature data. We found that foraging species are more likely to host termitophilous rove beetles than one-piece nesters: 99.6% of known termitophilous species were associated with foraging termites, whereas 0.4% were associated with one-piece nesters. Notably, the few one-piece nesting species hosting termitophiles were those having foraging potential and access to soil. Our phylogenetic analyses confirmed that termitophily primarily evolved with foraging termites. These results highlight that the evolution of complex termite societies fostered social parasitism, explaining why some species have more social parasites than others.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-09-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-06-2020
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.6381
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 10-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.30.462579
Abstract: Termites are social cockroaches. Because non-termite cockroaches are larger than basal termite lineages, which themselves include large termite species, it has been proposed that termites experienced a unidirectional body size reduction since they evolved eusociality. However, the validity of this hypothesis remains untested in a phylogenetic framework. Here, we reconstructed termite body size evolution using head width measurements of 1638 modern and fossil termite species. We found that the unidirectional body size reduction model was only supported by analyses excluding fossil species. Analyses including fossil species suggested that body size ersified along with speciation events and estimated that the size of the common ancestor of modern termites was comparable to that of modern species. Our analyses further revealed that body size variability among species, but not body size reduction, is associated with features attributed to advanced termite societies. Our results suggest that miniaturization took place at the origin of termites, while subsequent complexification of termite societies did not lead to further body size reduction.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 13-12-2021
Abstract: The evolution of asexuality is thought to be prevented when males play a critical role beyond that of gamete provision. We demonstrated high numbers of neo-sex chromosomes and enhanced heterozygosity in males of the termite Glyptotermes nakajimai , which appears to compensate for inbreeding within termite colonies. Furthermore, we showed that two asexual G . nakajimai lineages have evolved via independent intraspecific hybridizations between sexual lineages with differing diploid chromosome numbers. This has resulted in markedly higher levels of heterozygosity of females than males in the sexual lineage. Our study illustrates that asexual females may replace the role of males in maintaining heterozygosity, implying a route to the evolution of asexuality.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 05-2022
Abstract: Termites are major decomposers in terrestrial ecosystems and the second most erse lineage of social insects. The Kalotermitidae form the second-largest termite family and are distributed across tropical and subtropical ecosystems, where they typically live in small colonies confined to single wood items inhabited by in iduals with no foraging abilities. How the Kalotermitidae have acquired their global distribution patterns remains unresolved. Similarly, it is unclear whether foraging is ancestral to Kalotermitidae or was secondarily acquired in a few species. These questions can be addressed in a phylogenetic framework. We inferred time-calibrated phylogenetic trees of Kalotermitidae using mitochondrial genomes of ∼120 species, about 27% of kalotermitid ersity, including representatives of 21 of the 23 kalotermitid genera. Our mitochondrial genome phylogenetic trees were corroborated by phylogenies inferred from nuclear ultraconserved elements derived from a subset of 28 species. We found that extant kalotermitids shared a common ancestor 84 Ma (75–93 Ma 95% highest posterior density), indicating that a few disjunctions among early- erging kalotermitid lineages may predate Gondwana breakup. However, most of the ∼40 disjunctions among biogeographic realms were dated at & Ma, indicating that transoceanic dispersals, and more recently human-mediated dispersals, have been the major drivers of the global distribution of Kalotermitidae. Our phylogeny also revealed that the capacity to forage is often found in early- erging kalotermitid lineages, implying the ancestors of Kalotermitidae were able to forage among multiple wood pieces. Our phylogenetic estimates provide a platform for critical taxonomic revision and future comparative analyses of Kalotermitidae.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 17-11-2021
Abstract: Termites are social cockroaches. Because non-termite cockroaches are larger than basal termite lineages, which themselves include large termite species, it has been proposed that termites experienced a unidirectional body size reduction since they evolved eusociality. However, the validity of this hypothesis remains untested in a phylogenetic framework. Here, we reconstructed termite body size evolution using head width measurements of 1638 modern and fossil termite species. We found that the unidirectional body size reduction model was only supported by analyses excluding fossil species. Analyses including fossil species suggested that body size ersified along with speciation events and estimated that the size of the common ancestor of modern termites was comparable to that of modern species. Our analyses further revealed that body size variability among species, but not body size reduction, is associated with features attributed to advanced termite societies. Our results suggest that miniaturization took place at the origin of termites, while subsequent complexification of termite societies did not lead to further body size reduction.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-06-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.06.20.496918
Abstract: Recent attempts to explain the evolutionary prevalence of same-sex sexual behaviour (SSB) have focused on the role of indiscriminate mating. However, in many cases, SSB involves plastically adjusting sex roles to achieve successful courtship or pairing. To evaluate this overlooked factor, we tested whether ancestral sex-role plasticity facilitated the evolution of SSB in the termite Reticulitermes speratus . Male termites follow females in paired ‘tandems’ before mating, and movement patterns are sexually dimorphic. Adaptive same-sex tandems occur in both sexes. We show that in such cases, one partner adopts the other sex’s movement patterns, resulting in behavioural dimorphism. Data-based simulations confirmed that this socially-cued plasticity contributes to pair maintenance because dimorphic movements improve reunion success upon accidental separation. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the ancestors of modern termites lack consistent sex roles during pairing, indicating that R. speratus inherited the plasticity from the ancestor. Socio-environmental induction of ancestral behavioural potential may be of widespread importance to the evolutionary maintenance of SSB.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 08-11-2022
Abstract: Recent attempts to explain the evolutionary prevalence of same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) have focused on the role of indiscriminate mating. However, in many cases, SSB may be more complex than simple mistaken identity, instead involving mutual interactions and successful pairing between partners who can detect each other’s sex. Behavioral plasticity is essential for the expression of SSB in such circumstances. To test behavioral plasticity’s role in the evolution of SSB, we used termites to study how females and males modify their behavior in same-sex versus heterosexual pairs. Male termites follow females in paired “tandems” before mating, and movement patterns are sexually dimorphic. Previous studies observed that adaptive same-sex tandems also occur in both sexes. Here we found that stable same-sex tandems are achieved by behavioral plasticity when one partner adopts the other sex’s movements, resulting in behavioral dimorphism. Simulations based on empirically obtained parameters indicated that this socially cued plasticity contributes to pair maintenance, because dimorphic movements improve reunion success upon accidental separation. A systematic literature survey and phylogenetic comparative analysis suggest that the ancestors of modern termites lack consistent sex roles during pairing, indicating that plasticity is inherited from the ancestor. Socioenvironmental induction of ancestral behavioral potential may be of widespread importance to the expression of SSB. Our findings challenge recent arguments for a prominent role of indiscriminate mating behavior in the evolutionary origin and maintenance of SSB across erse taxa.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 06-2018
DOI: 10.1086/697238
Abstract: Eusocial insects exhibit the most striking ex le of phenotypic plasticity. There has been a long controversy over the factors determining caste development of in iduals in social insects. Here we demonstrate that parental phenotypes influence the social status of offspring not through genetic inheritance but through genomic imprinting in termites. Our extensive field survey and genetic analysis of the termite Reticulitermes speratus show that its breeding system is inconsistent with a genetic caste determination model. We therefore developed a genomic imprinting model, in which queen- and king-specific epigenetic marks antagonistically influence sexual development of offspring. The model accounts for all known empirical data on caste differentiation of R. speratus and other related species. By conducting colony-founding experiments and additively incorporating relevant socio-environmental factors into our genomic imprinting model, we show the relative importance of genomic imprinting and environmental factors in caste determination. The idea of epigenetic inheritance of sexual phenotypes solves the puzzle of why parthenogenetically produced daughters carrying only maternal chromosomes exclusively develop into queens and why parental phenotypes (nymph- or worker-derived reproductives) strongly influence caste differentiation of offspring. According to our model, the worker caste is seen as a "neuter" caste whose sexual development is suppressed due to counterbalanced maternal and paternal imprinting and opens new avenues for understanding the evolution of caste systems in social insects.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2016
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 24-05-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.22.541647
Abstract: Fossils encompassing multiple in iduals provide rare direct evidence of behavioral interactions among extinct organisms. However, the fossilization process can alter the spatial relationship between in iduals and hinder behavioral reconstruction. Here, we report a Baltic amber inclusion preserving a female-male pair of the extinct termite species Electrotermes affinis . The head-to-abdomen contact in the fossilized pair resembles the tandem courtship behavior of extant termites, although their parallel body alignment differs from the linear alignment typical of tandem runs. To solve this inconsistency, we simulated the first stage of amber formation, the immobilization of captured organisms, by exposing living termite tandems to sticky surfaces. We found that the posture of the fossilized pair matches trapped tandems and differs from untrapped tandems. Thus, the fossilized pair likely is a tandem running pair, representing the first direct evidence of the mating behavior of extinct termites. Furthermore, by comparing the positions of partners on a sticky surface and in the amber inclusion, we estimated to 67% the probability that the leader role in the fossilized tandem was performed by a male. Our results demonstrate that past behavioral interactions can be reconstructed despite the spatial distortion of body poses during fossilization. Our taphonomic approach clarifies how certain behaviors can be inferred from fossil occurrences.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/EEN.13209
Abstract: Group‐living animals coordinate their movements via local interactions, which can be mediated by visual, tactile, and chemical communication channels. Termite mating pairs form tandems with one male imago following one female imago in a synchronised way to explore the environment and search for a nesting site. Imagoes are the only developmental stage with compound eyes in termites, but the role of vision during tandem runs remains unknown. Here, we investigate the movements during tandem runs of two termite species, Coptotermes formosanus , which swarms during the night, and Reticulitermes speratus , which swarms during the day. We performed the experiments with light and in complete darkness. We found that females and males of both species adjust their speed to each other to form a stable tandem and reunite efficiently upon separation, with or without light. However, the activity was dependent on light conditions in the diurnal R. speratus , in which termites were more active with light. On the other hand, the nocturnal C. formosanus was mostly insensitive to light environments, with termites being slightly more active in darkness. Our results suggest that termites can use light as an environmental cue to start forming mating pairs but not as means to locate mates or coordinate their movements.
Location: Japan
Start Date: 2024
End Date: 12-2026
Amount: $388,487.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
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