Different faces, same attitudes: behavioral mimicry and description of a new termitophilous species of the remarkable rove beetle genus Thyreoxenus (Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Corotocini) from Brazil with notes on post-imaginal growth.

Abstract

Among the termite-associated fauna, rove beetles of the subfamily Aleocharinae are distinguished by exhibiting the majority of convergent evolutions to this lifestyle. This phenomenon known as termitophily brings many advantages, including the care of nestmates and the exploitation of resources. While some mechanisms that ensure the integration of the termitophiles into the colony are well known, such as chemical mimicry, others remain unclear. In this article, we discuss the importance of termitophile behavior for the stability of interactions within termite colonies. We address behavioral mimicry as an important integration mechanism between termitophiles and termites. We compare both termitophile's and termite's behavioral repertoires and found no significant differences between them, suggesting that social parasites can mislead their host through their behavior in order to exploit the colony and to keep positive interactions with their hosts. In addition, we describe a new species of termitophile rove beetle from a highland humidforest in northeastern Brazil: Thyreoxenus alakazam sp. nov., with detailed illustrations and comments on post-imaginal growth in the context of our hypothesis of the post-imago phenotype, known as stenogastry, as a recapitulation of ancestral conditions in physogastric rove beetles.