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| Hamotus heidiae Parker, in Parker, Maruyama, Okamoto, Schultz et Alvarado, 2024. |
Abstract
Colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex leafcutter ants provide niches for diverse insect species, but few such organisms have evolved obligate myrmecophilous associations inside host colonies. We report a remarkable pselaphine rove beetle myrmecophile, Hamotus heidiae sp. nov., discovered in galleries of Acromyrmex histrix Latreille in lowland tropical rainforest within Tambopata National Reserve, Peruvian Amazonia. Presence of adults and putative larvae inhabiting the central nest implies an obligate relationship, with development of the beetle likely occurring inside the colony environment. Phylogenetic analysis of four genomic loci confirms that H. heidiae is a morphologically derived member of the New World Hamotus-generic complex and is tentatively placed into Hamotus Aubé on morphological grounds. The new species is phylogenetically distant to the genus Attapsenius Bruch—previously, the only pselaphine taxon known with certainty to be an obligate myrmecophile of leafcutter ants. Both H. heidiae and Attapsenius emerge from a newly recognized “Tyrine-group” within Pselaphinae—a major radiation that includes multiple independent origins of myrmecophily and termitophily. We were unable to detect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) on the body surface of H. heidiae adults. Chemical insignificance may form part of the strategy that this myrmecophile, and possibly other pselaphines, employ to infiltrate host colonies.
Keywords: Pselaphinae, Myrmecophily, Cuticular hydrocarbons, Leafcutter ants, Chemical ecology, Evolution
Hamotus heidiae Parker, new species
Etymology: The new species is named in honor of Dr Heidi Kay Parker, for her scientific intuition, expertise, and accomplishments, her passion for and deep knowledge of the biological world, and for her love, support, and encouragement of the first author’s interest in beetles.
J. Parker, M. Maruyama, T. Okamoto, T. R. Schultz and M. Alvarado. 2024. Evolution of Leafcutter Ant Myrmecophiles: Hamotus heidiae, A New symbiont of Acromyrmex Colonies with undetectable hydrocarbons (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae). Insectes Sociaux. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s00040-024-01005-x
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