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Assaying Predatory Feeding Behaviors in Pristionchus and Other Nematodes
Published on: September 4, 2016
First fossil record of nematode parasitism of ants; a 40 million year tale
1Department of Entomology, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331, USA. poinarg@bcc.orst.edu
Abstract:
A mermithid nematode emerging from a male ant, Prenolepis henschei Mayr, in Baltic amber is the first fossil record demonstrating nematode parasitism of ants. This parasite, described as Heydeniusformicinus sp. n., is compared to extant mermithid parasites of ants, especially Allomermis myrmecophila Baylis 1921. The present fossil, together with earlier reports of braconid and mite parasitism of ants in Baltic amber, indicates that several diverse groups had already evolved parasitic associations with ants by the Eocene.
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