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Phoretic Poecilochirus mites specialize on their burying beetle hosts - PubMed

  • ️Sun Jan 01 2017

. 2017 Nov 7;7(24):10743-10751.

doi: 10.1002/ece3.3591. eCollection 2017 Dec.

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Phoretic Poecilochirus mites specialize on their burying beetle hosts

Volker Nehring et al. Ecol Evol. 2017.

Abstract

Recurring species interactions can cause species to adapt to each other. Specialization will increase the fitness of symbionts in the coevolved association but may reduce the flexibility of symbiont choice as it will often decrease fitness in interactions with other than the main symbiont species. We analyzed the fitness interactions between a complex of two cryptic mite species and their sympatric burying beetle hosts in a European population. Poecilochirus mites (Mesostigmata, Parasitidae) are phoretic on burying beetles and reproduce alongside beetles, while these care for their offspring at vertebrate carcasses. While Poecilochirus carabi is typically found on Nicrophorus vespilloides beetles, P. necrophori is associated with N. vespillo. It has long been known that the mites discriminate between the two beetle species, but the fitness consequences of this choice remained unknown. We experimentally associated both mite species with both beetle species and found that mite fitness suffered when mites reproduced alongside a nonpreferred host. In turn, there is evidence that one of the beetle species is better able to cope with the mite species they are typically associated with. The overall fitness effect of mites on beetles was negative in our laboratory experiments. The Poecilochirus mites studied here are thus specialized competitors or parasites of burying beetles.

Keywords: burying beetles; coevolution; cryptic species; host specialization; mites; parasites.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Deutonymphs of the mite Poecilochirus carabi use burying beetles for transport, here on the ventral side of their preferred host species, Nicrophorus vespilloides

Figure 2
Figure 2

Total brood mass was comparable between N. vespilloides and N. vespillo beetles and was not influenced by mite presence or species (no mites, blue; Pvo: P. necrophori, red; Pvs: P. carabi, black). Boxplots depict median (thick line), interquartile range (box), minimum and maximum. Numbers above boxes are sample sizes

Figure 3
Figure 3

Mite fitness depends on the combination of mite fitness and beetle fitness. Each mite species has a higher fitness with the beetles it is typically found on (P. necrophori (Pvo, red) with N. vespillo (Nvo); P. carabi (Pvs, black) with N. vespilloides (Nvs)). Numbers are sample sizes; ***p < .001 in a maximum likelihood test

Figure 4
Figure 4

Beetle fitness (measured as total brood mass) and mite fitness (offspring per 10 individuals) are overall negatively correlated, indicating that the mites are parasites. P. carabi (Pvs, black) prefers N. vespilloides beetles (Nvs, (a)), and P. necrophori (Pvo, red) prefers N. vespillo (Nvo, (b)). Beetle fitness is also higher when beetles are paired with their specialized mites (solid regression lines of preferred combinations are above those of dashed alternatives)

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