The social parasite Phengaris (Maculinea) nausithous affects genetic diversity within Myrmica rubra host ant colonies

Abstract

Evolutionary theory predicts that high genetic variation maintains plasticity in a species’ response to parasite pressure. However, higher genetic diversity might also cause easier infiltration by social parasites, because odour diversity is high and nest-mate recognition poor. Here we test if the obligate myrmecophile Lycaenid butterfly Phengaris nausithous, a parasite of colonies of the highly polygynous ant Myrmica rubra causes local adaptation by enhancing genetic variance in parasitized versus non parasitized ant populations M. rubra colonies from six infested and three uninfested sites were assayed at five microsatellite loci to quantify genetic variation. Our results reveal isolation by distance and a significantly enhanced intracolonial variance due to the parasite pressure.