Host-cleptoparasite biogeographical congruence through time: the case of cuckoo oil bees

Authors: MARTINS, ALINE - University Of Michigan; FRITAS, FELIPE - Federal University Of Sao Paulo; ROCHA-FILHO, LEO - Federal University Of Uberlandia; Branstetter, Michael; AGUIAR, ANTONIO - University Of Brazil; ALMEIDA, EDUARDO - Federal University Of Sao Paulo; VASCONCELOS, THAIS - University Of Michigan

Submitted to: Journal of Biogeography
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/23/2025
Publication Date: 2/6/2025
Citation: Martins, A.C., Fritas, F.V., Rocha-Filho, L.C., Branstetter, M.G., Aguiar, A.J., Almeida, E.A., Vasconcelos, T.N. 2025. Host-cleptoparasite biogeographical congruence through time: the case of cuckoo oil bees. Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.15101.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.15101

Interpretive Summary: Parasitic organisms are dependent upon their hosts for feeding and reproduction and are thus likely to have geographic distributions and histories that match those of their hosts. While parasites have been well studied in many systems, parasitic bees that use the nests of host species to raise their offspring have received less attention and it is unknown how well their distributions match those of their hosts in both time and space. A group of international researchers addressed this topic in oil-collecting bees and their parasites by examining the evolutionary histories of both groups using molecular data and geographic information. The researchers found that oil bees and and their parasites have largely congruent histories with range shifts in hosts preceding those of the parasites as expected. These results improve knowledge of the family tree of bees and provide new insights into how free-living bees and their associated parasites evolve together over time.

Technical Abstract: Aim: The present-day geographical distribution of parasites typically mirrors that of their hosts, but few studies have examined current and historical patterns of host-parasite biogeography in a phylogentic context, especially for insect brood parasites. Cuckoo bees are usually specialized in attacking hosts of specific lineages, but they are likely less restricted by hosts' biogeographical movements than more specialized parasites, like endoparasitic insects, potentially leading to less congruency. Using a new phylogenetic framework for cuckoo oil bees in the “ericrocidine line” and their oil bee hosts, Centris and Epicharis, we aimed to examine biogeographical patterns in the hosts and parasites test for congruency in ancestral areas over time. Location: The American continent. Taxon: Bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Methods: To compare range shifts through time, we reconstructed the biogeographical history of both cleptoparasites and their hosts. We generated time-calibrated phylogenies using traditional and phylogenomic markers and inferred ancentral áreas under a multimodel testing framework. Ancestral range estimates were performed on 100 trees randomly sampled from the posterior distribution of phylogenies to account for uncertainties in divergence time estimation and model selection. Results: The origin of the host's stem group in the Cretaceous precedes the origin of their cleptoparasite’s stem group in the Paleocene. The origins of crown groups for both cleptoparasites and hosts were synchronous in the xxx, and both took place in tropical South America. While the host-parasite pair, Epicharis- Rhathymini, remained mostly associated within this region, Centris and their cleptoparasites expanded their distribution to other parts of the Neotropical and Nearctic regions in several biogeographic events. In all cases, host distribution range shifts preceded the cleptoparasite shifts. Main Conclusion: The biogeographical history of cleptoparasitic oil bees and oil-collecting hosts is generally congruent in time and space. Events of range expansion mainly occurred in the more species-rich lineages of cleptoparasites. Range shifts in cleptoparasites followed those in the distribution of hosts and were concomitant with the distribution of oil plants visited by the hosts bees.