Searching the Resource Information Network
Are you sure you want to leave this community? Leaving the community will revoke any permissions you have been granted in this community.
Foraging, defense and waste disposal are essential for sustaining social insect colonies. Hence, their nest generally has an open structure, wherein specialized castes called workers and soldiers perform these tasks. However, some social aphids form completely closed galls, wherein hundreds to thousands of insects grow and reproduce for several months in isolation. Why these social aphids are not drowned by accumulated honeydew has been an enigma. Here we report a sophisticated biological solution to the waste problem in the closed system: the gall inner surface is specialized for absorbing water, whereby honeydew is promptly removed via the plant vascular system. The water-absorbing closed galls have evolved at least twice independently among social aphids. The plant-mediated waste removal, which entails insect's manipulation of plant morphogenesis and physiology, comprises a previously unknown mechanism of nest cleaning, which can be regarded as 'extended phenotype' and 'indirect social behavior' of the social aphids.
Pubmed ID: 23149732
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
Software program for phylogenetic analyses of large datasets under maximum likelihood.
View all literature mentionsTHIS RESOURCE IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE.Documented on February 28,2023. Software program for Bayesian inference and model choice across a wide range of phylogenetic and evolutionary models.
View all literature mentionsSoftware which creates phylogenetic trees from molecular, morphological and/or behavioral data through high speed computer analysis.
View all literature mentionsSoftware tool used to carry out statistical selection of best-fit models of nucleotide substitution without the aid of PAUP*. It implements five different model selection strategies: hierarchical and dynamical likelihood ratio tests, Akaike and Bayesian information criteria, and a decision theory method. It also provides estimates of model selection uncertainty, parameter importances, and model-averaged parameter estimates.
View all literature mentions