Pós-Graduação em Ambiente e Sociedade Folias, Goias, Brazil
Ants have remarkable capacity to coordinate social interactions by secreting structurally diverse metabolites from numerous glands. Colonies maintain social cohesion among nestmates while gathering essential resources by employing these secretions (i.e., semiochemicals). For example, approximately 40 genera in five ant subfamilies make use of alkaloids belonging to different classes and many of these alkaloids are used in nest protection (e.g., venom, alarm, repellants, antimicrobials). Despite their defensive role, ant emissions—particularly trail, brood, and nestmate recognition pheromones—linger in the environment making communication channels vulnerable to enemy eavesdroppers (e.g., parasitoids, myrmecophiles, and social parasites). The exploitation of social insects involves a sequential chain of stages that begins with finding the host, initiating attack, appraising the resource, and then regulating the host to maximize fitness gains. These enemies are in turn challenged due to evolutionary forces prompted by host resistance. It thus becomes clear how integrative research can provide a much-needed foundation to depict convergent traits across taxa specializing in exploiting social insects. Phylogeny studies clarify the diversification and origins of chemical compounds, and the natural history of the symbiotic network provides essential biological context. We aim to highlight commonalties among disparate social insect symbiotic systems and encourage the use of a conceptual framework applicable to all wanted or unwanted house guests.
