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Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri: a new ant species discovered in the stomach of the dendrobatid poison frog, Oophaga sylvatica (Funkhouser).

ABSTRACT: The ant genus Lenomyrmex was recently discovered and described from mid to high elevation rainforests in southern Central and northwestern South America. Lenomyrmex currently consists of six described species, which are only rarely collected. Here, we add a new species, Lenomyrmex hoelldoblerisp. n., which was discovered in a stomach content sample of the dendrobatid frog, Oophaga sylvatica, from northwestern Ecuador. Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri can be distinguished from other species in the genus by the presence of a well-developed petiolar node, whereas in all other species the node of the petiole is ill-defined. In addition to the shape of the petiolar node, Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri can be distinguished from the morphologically similar Lenomyrmex costatus by (i) the presence of the metanotal suture, (ii) the direction of the striae on dorsum of propodeum (concentrically transverse in Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri, longitudinal in Lenomyrmex costatus), (iii) the finely striate dorsum of postpetiole, (iv) its larger size, and (v) distinctly darker coloration. We also describe the gyne of Lenomyrmex foveolatus. This collection record from northwestern Ecuador extends the geographic distribution of Lenomyrmex foveolatus 400 km south from its previous record in Colombia. A revised taxonomic key to the workers and gynes of all described Lenomyrmex species is provided. We discuss the taxonomic relationship of Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri to other species in the genus and its biology based on the limited information that is currently available. Finally, we briefly discuss the feeding ecology of dendrobatid poison frogs in the context of providing a valuable source of rarely collected and cryptic new ant species.

SUBMITTER: Rabeling C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5102051 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri: a new ant species discovered in the stomach of the dendrobatid poison frog, Oophaga sylvatica (Funkhouser).

Rabeling Christian C Sosa-Calvo Jeffrey J O'Connell Lauren A LA Coloma Luis A LA Fernández Fernando F

ZooKeys 20160919 618

The ant genus Lenomyrmex was recently discovered and described from mid to high elevation rainforests in southern Central and northwestern South America. Lenomyrmex currently consists of six described species, which are only rarely collected. Here, we add a new species, Lenomyrmex hoelldoblerisp. n., which was discovered in a stomach content sample of the dendrobatid frog, Oophaga sylvatica, from northwestern Ecuador. Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri can be disti ...[more]

PMID: 27853401

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Project description:BackgroundAnimal coloration is usually an adaptive attribute, under strong local selection pressures and often diversified among species or populations. The strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) shows an impressive array of color morphs across its distribution in Central America. Here we quantify gene expression and genetic variation to identify candidate genes involved in generating divergence in coloration between populations of red, green and blue O. pumilio from the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama.ResultsWe generated a high quality non-redundant reference transcriptome by mapping the products of genome-guided and de novo transcriptome assemblies onto a re-scaffolded draft genome of O. pumilio. We then measured gene expression in individuals of the three color phenotypes and identified color-associated candidate genes by comparing differential expression results against a list of a priori gene sets for five different functional categories of coloration - pteridine synthesis, carotenoid synthesis, melanin synthesis, iridophore pathways (structural coloration), and chromatophore development. We found 68 candidate coloration loci with significant expression differences among the color phenotypes. Notable upregulated examples include pteridine synthesis genes spr, xdh and pts (in red and green frogs); carotenoid metabolism genes bco2 (in blue frogs), scarb1 (in red frogs), and guanine metabolism gene psat1 (in blue frogs). We detected significantly higher expression of the pteridine synthesis gene set in red and green frogs versus blue frogs. In addition to gene expression differences, we identified 370 outlier SNPs on 162 annotated genes showing signatures of diversifying selection, including eight pigmentation-associated genes.ConclusionsGene expression in the skin of the three populations of frogs with differing coloration is highly divergent. The strong signal of differential expression in pteridine genes is consistent with a major role of these genes in generating the coloration differences among the three morphs. However, the finding of differentially expressed genes across pathways and functional categories suggests that multiple mechanisms are responsible for the coloration differences, likely involving both pigmentary and structural coloration. In addition to regulatory differences, we found potential evidence of differential selection acting at the protein sequence level in several color-associated loci, which could contribute to the color polymorphism.

Dataset Information

Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri: a new ant species discovered in the stomach of the dendrobatid poison frog, Oophaga sylvatica (Funkhouser).

Publications

<i>Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri</i>: a new ant species discovered in the stomach of the dendrobatid poison frog, <i>Oophaga sylvatica</i> (Funkhouser).

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