Coevolution between slave-making ants and their hosts: host specificity and geographical variation

We explored the impact of a slave-making ant, Protomognathus americanus, on two of its hosts, Leptothorax longispinosus and L. ambiguus. We showed that, on average, slave-maker colonies conduct raids on 2.7 L. longispinosus and 1.4 L. ambiguus nests in a single year. The more common host, L. longispinosus, survives raiding and colony-founding events in a third of the cases, but the less common host rarely survives attacks from the slave-makers. We compare our results, collected in Vermont, to a study conducted in New York where the slave-maker pressure is much stronger. Our results suggest that in Vermont the slave-maker has a sparing strategy when raiding L. longispinosus, but not when raiding L. ambiguus. Thus coevolution between slave-making ants and their hosts shows host specificity and geographical variation.