Data from: Mimicry and eavesdropping enable a new form of social parasitism in ants

Social parasitism is defined by the exploitation of the social mechanisms of one society by another whole society. Here, we use quantitative ecological data and experiments to identify the components of a new form of social parasitism by the recently discovered "mirror turtle ant," Cephalotes specularis. We show that C. specularis workers visually mimic and actively avoid contact with foragers of the hyperaggressive host ant Crematogaster ampla, allowing them to move freely in the extensive and otherwise defended foraging networks of host colonies. Workers from parasite colonies have immediate access to these networks by nesting exclusively within host territories, and 89% of all potential host territories were parasitized. Inside the network, parasite workers eavesdrop on the host's trail pheromones to locate and exploit food resources that are defended by the host to the exclusion of all other ants. Experiments demonstrated the unprecedented capacity of the parasite for superior foraging performance on its host's pheromone trails than on trails of its own. Considered together, the apparent Batesian-Wallacian mimicry, pheromone-based interceptive eavesdropping, kleptoparasitism, and xenobiotic nesting ecology displayed by C. specularis within the territory and foraging network of a host ant represents a novel adaptive syndrome for social exploitation.

社会寄生（social parasitism）被定义为某一完整蚁群对另一蚁群社会机制的利用。本研究借助定量生态学数据与实验手段，针对新近发现的镜龟蚁（mirror turtle ant，学名Cephalotes specularis）的新型社会寄生形式构成要素展开鉴定。研究表明，镜龟蚁工蚁会通过视觉拟态，并主动避开极具攻击性的寄主蚁——巨首举腹蚁（Crematogaster ampla）的觅食个体，借此得以自由穿梭于寄主蚁群庞大且受严密防护的觅食网络中。寄生蚁群的工蚁仅在寄主领地内筑巢，即可直接接入该觅食网络，且89%的潜在寄主领地均遭到寄生。在觅食网络内部，寄生工蚁会窃听寄主的踪迹信息素，以此定位并取用受寄主排他性防护的食物资源，排斥其他所有蚁类。实验证实，该寄生蚁在寄主信息素踪迹上的觅食表现远优于其自身种群踪迹，此为前所未有的能力。综上，镜龟蚁在寄主蚁的领地与觅食网络中所展现出的贝茨-沃勒拟态（Batesian-Wallacian mimicry）、基于信息素的拦截窃听、盗寄生（kleptoparasitism）以及异种筑巢生态（xenobiotic nesting ecology），共同构成了一种全新的社会适应性剥削综合征。