In the new paper, we explore the overlap in microbial communities among neotropical army ants and diverse beetles that inhabit their colonies.

Catalina led the efforts - dating back to Piotr’s postdoc at Drexel University, Philadelphia - to characterize the diversity and composition of Eciton burchellii ant workers, larvae, and 13 species of specialized beetles that inhabit ant colonies in Costa Rica. We found that several important bacterial clades and genotypes are shared among unrelated insect species that live together. These data provide important new perspective onto bacterial specificity and transmission among species and environments.

The paper is available, in Open Access mode, at the journal website:

Valdivia C., Newton J.A., O’Donnell S., von Beeren C., Kronauer D.J.C., Russell J.A., Łukasik P. (2023): Microbial symbionts are shared between ants and their associated beetles. Environmental Microbiology 25(12): 3466-3483 

https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16544

Photo by Daniel Kronauer shows a myrmecophile beetle (Ecitophya simulans) sitting on an army ant worker (Eciton burchellii foreli) that carries a larva. 

 

Added: 31st of October 2023