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Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.)

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Abstract

The short-sighted selection hypothesis for parasite virulence predicts that winners of within-host competition are poorer at transmission to new hosts. Social parasitism by self-replicating, female-producing workers occurs in the Cape honeybee Apis mellifera capensis, and colonies of other honeybee subspecies are susceptible hosts. We found high within-host virulence but low transmission rates in a clone of social parasitic A. m. capensis workers invading the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In contrast, parasitic workers from the endemic range of A. m. capensis showed low within-host virulence but high transmission rates. This suggests a short-sighted selection scenario for the host–parasite co-evolution in the invasive range of the Cape honeybee, probably facilitated by beekeeping-assisted parasite transmission in apiaries.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Susanne Stüber and Petra Leibe for technical assistance and P Kryger for stimulating discussions. Financial support was granted by the European Union Commission Directorate General for Research sixth framework (STREP BEE SHOP [RFAM]) the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [PN, CWWP, RFAM] and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst [CWWP].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Biologie, Molekulare Ökologie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 4, 06099, Halle (Saale), Germany

    Robin F. A. Moritz

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, 0002, Pretoria, South Africa

    Robin F. A. Moritz & Christian W. W. Pirk

  3. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, 6140, Grahamstown, South Africa

    H. Randall Hepburn & Peter Neumann

  4. Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Heilongtan, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

    H. Randall Hepburn & Peter Neumann

  5. Swiss Bee Research Centre, Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP, 3033, Bern, Switzerland

    Peter Neumann

Authors
  1. Robin F. A. Moritz
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  2. Christian W. W. Pirk
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  3. H. Randall Hepburn
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  4. Peter Neumann
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Correspondence to Robin F. A. Moritz.

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Moritz, R.F.A., Pirk, C.W.W., Hepburn, H.R. et al. Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.). Naturwissenschaften 95, 507–513 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0351-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0351-6

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