Two Cleptoparasitic Ant Crickets (Orthoptera: Myrmecophilidae) That Share Similar Host Ant Species Differentiate Their Habitat Use in Areas of Sympatry in Japan

Takashi Komatsu,Munetoshi Maruyama,Takao Itino

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v62i3.655

Takashi Komatsu, Munetoshi Maruyama + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v62i3.655

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Journal: Sociobiology	Publication Date: Sep 30, 2015
Citations: 8	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Shinshu University, Kyushu University

Abstract

Myrmecophilus crickets (Myrmecophilidae, Orthoptera) are typical ant guests. In Japan, about 10 species are recognized on the basis of morphological and molecular phylogenetic frameworks. We focused on two of these species, M. kinomurai and M. kubotai, and compared their host and habitat use. Previous work based on a limited sampling effort suggested that these two species share some ant species as hosts, but that their habitat (open versus shaded) preferences differ. Here, on the basis of exhaustive sampling across Japan, we confirmed that M. kinomurai and M. kubotai do not differ in their host ant preferences: both prefer formicine ants as hosts. As for habitat preferences, M. kubotai occurred significantly more often in open habitats than in shaded ones (P < 0.05). In contrast, M. kinomurai showed no habitat preference in areas where M. kubotai did not occur. However, M. kinomurai showed an obvious preference for shaded environments in areas of sympatry with its potential competitor M. kubotai. This pattern suggests that interspecific competition between M. kinomurai and M. Kubotai is a factor causing habitat differentiation in areas of sympatry.

Highlights

Habitat segregation may enable potentially competing organisms to coexist in a given region (Schoener, 1974)
For M. kinomurai and M. kubotai, most individuals were collected from formicine ant nests (M. kinomurai vs. M. kubotai, %, AM: 0 vs. 0, FO: 93 vs. 88, DO: 0 vs. 0, MY: 5 vs. 8, PO: 0 vs. 0, PR: 0 vs. 0)
One M. kubotai cricket individual was collected from a termite nest, and six individuals were collected from outside ant nests (Appendix 2)

Summary

Introduction

Habitat segregation may enable potentially competing organisms to coexist in a given region (Schoener, 1974). We investigated host and habitat use by the two most commonly occurring species, M. kinomurai (mtDNA lineage D+G of Komatsu et al, 2008) and M. kubotai (lineage E+F of Komatsu et al, 2008), on the basis of exhaustive sampling across Japan. These results may indicate that M. kubotai and M. kinomurai are in a competitive relationship for adequate host ant species and that they differentiate their habitat to avoid encountering each other.

Results

Conclusion