论文标题：Phylogenomics of palearctic Formica species suggests a single origin of temporary parasitism and gives insights to the evolutionary pathway toward slave-making behaviour
Coptoformica和Formica s. str.亚属也被称为木蚂蚁，它们依赖奴役以外的机制来建立新蚁群。他们通常会进行萌芽，这是一个新蚁后和工蚁离开并在附近建立新蚁群的过程。这种行 为导致了许多相互连接巢穴并形成超级蚁群，并且被认为是对寒冷栖息地的适应，然而成功建立独立蚁群会受到蚁后高死亡率的限制。在这种情况下，经常观察到巢穴间蚁群的转移。
The ants of the Formica genus are classical model species in evolutionary biology. In particular, Darwin used Formica as model species to better understand the evolution of slave-making, a parasitic behaviour where workers of another species are stolen to exploit their workforce. In his book On the Origin of Species (1859), Darwin first hypothesized that slave-making behaviour in Formica evolved in incremental steps from a free-living ancestor.
Methods
The absence of a well-resolved phylogenetic tree of the genus prevent an assessment of whether relationships among Formica subgenera are compatible with this scenario. In this study, we resolve the relationships among the 4 palearctic Formica subgenera (Formica str. s., Coptoformica, Raptiformica and Serviformica) using a phylogenomic dataset of 945 genes for 16 species.
Results
We provide a reference tree resolving the relationships among the main Formica subgenera with high bootstrap supports.
Discussion
The branching order of our tree suggests that the free-living lifestyle is ancestral in the Formica genus and that parasitic colony founding could have evolved a single time, probably acting as a pre-adaptation to slave-making behaviour.
Conclusion
This phylogenetic tree provides a solid backbone for future evolutionary studies in the Formica genus and slave-making behaviour.
期刊介绍：BMC Evolutionary Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of molecular and non-molecular evolution of all organisms, as well as phylogenetics and palaeontology.
