title: Multi-trait mimicry of ants by a parasitoid wasp.
abstract: Many animals avoid attack from predators through toxicity or the emission of repellent chemicals. Defensive mimicry has evolved in many species to deceive shared predators, for instance through colouration and other morphological adaptations, but mimicry hardly ever seems to involve multi-trait similarities. Here we report on a wingless parasitoid wasp that exhibits a full spectrum of traits mimicing ants and affording protection against ground-dwelling predators (wolf spiders). In body size, morphology and movement Gelis agilis (Ichneumonidae) is highly similar to the black garden ant (Lasius niger) that shares the same habitat. When threatened, G. agilis also emits a volatile chemical that is similar to an ant-produced chemical that repels spiders. In bioassays with L. niger, G. agilis, G. areator, Cotesia glomerata and Drosophila melanogaster, ants and G. agilis were virtually immune to spider attack, in contrast the other species were not. Volatile characterisation with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry identified G. agilis emissions as 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, a known insect defence semiochemical that acts as an alarm pheromone in ants. We argue that multi-trait mimicry, as observed in G. agilis, might be much more common among animals than currently realized.
authors.affiliation: VU University Amsterdam, Department of Ecological Sciences, Section Animal Ecology, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Miriama
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malcicka
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6700 EH Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: T Martijn
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Bezemer
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte (IRBI) UMR 7261 CNRS/Université François-Rabelais, Ecology of Multitrophic Systems Research Team, Functional Ecology group, Avenue Monge - Parc Grandmont, 37200 Tours, France.
authors.forename: Bertanne
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6700 EH Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bloemberg
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, School of Pharmacy, Nottingham, U.K.
authors.forename: Charles J P
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Snart
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, School of Biosciences, Loughborough, U.K.
authors.forename: Ian C W
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.affiliation: 1] VU University Amsterdam, Department of Ecological Sciences, Section Animal Ecology, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands [2] Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6700 EH Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Harvey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D049628:Body Size; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007659:Ketones / Q000032:analysis; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013112:Spiders / Q000502:physiology; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D014863:Wasps / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007659:Ketones; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; C029750:methylheptenone