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Let's go swimming: mermithid-infected earwigs exhibit positive hydrotaxis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2019

Ryan Edward Harper Herbison Open the ORCID record for Ryan Edward Harper Herbison [Opens in a new window] ,
Steven Evans ,
Jean-François Doherty Open the ORCID record for Jean-François Doherty [Opens in a new window]  and
Robert Poulin Open the ORCID record for Robert Poulin [Opens in a new window]
Ryan Edward Harper Herbison*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King St, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Steven Evans
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King St, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Jean-François Doherty
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King St, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Robert Poulin
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King St, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
*
Author for correspondence: Ryan Edward Harper Herbison, E-mail: RyanEHHerbison@gmail.com
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Abstract

Certain species of parasites have the apparent ability to alter the behaviour of their host in order to facilitate the completion of their own life cycle. While documented in hairworms (phylum Nematomorpha), the ability for mermithid parasites (from the sister phylum Nematoda) to force hosts to enter water remains more enigmatic. Here, we present the first experimental evidence in a laboratory setting that an insect which normally never enters open water (the European earwig Forficula auricularia) will readily enter the water when infected with a mermithid nematode (Mermis nigrescens). Only adult mermithids appear capable of inducing this polarising shift in behaviour, with mermithid length being a very strong predictor of whether their host enters water. However, mermithid length was only weakly associated with how long it took an earwig to enter water following the beginning of a trial. Considering the evidence presented here and its alignment with a proteomic investigation on the same host–parasite system, this study provides strong evidence for adaptive behavioural manipulation and a foundational system for further behavioural and mechanistic exploration.

Keywords

Altered behaviourearwigshost manipulationhydrophiliamermithidaeparasitism
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 146 , Issue 13 , November 2019 , pp. 1631 - 1635
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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