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by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-04
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The study investigated environmental determinants of species distribution in convergently evolved honeypot ants, using species ensemble models to quantify habitat suitability, richness, and predictor importance across different ant genera and geographic contexts. It found niche similarity mainly within genera, with Leptomyrmex and Myrmecocystus showing strikingly different environmental niches, where Leptomyrmex distribution was driven most by atmospheric bioclimatic variables (precipitation and temperature) and Myrmecocystus by soil bioclimatic variables. The authors conclude that contemporary environmental factors do not explain the convergence of honeypot ants, explicitly noting a limitation that future work is needed to test past climatic conditions and examine ant genomes. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.
Abstract
Honeypot ants are a compelling system for studying convergent evolution. In these ants, specialized workers store liquid food in distended crops, a trait known as repletism, which has evolved independently across multiple genera worldwide. Seasonal resource scarcity and aridity are hypothesized drivers of this trait, yet the role of environmental factors in shaping the evolution of repletism has never been empirically tested. We modeled suitable habitats for 49 honeypot ant species using ensemble distribution models, then used the most important environmental predictors to compare niche structure across and within biogeographic regions (Nearctic, Australasia, Afrotropic, Neotropic, Palearctic). To address uneven sampling density among species, we independently applied occurrence-based and Boolean (suitable-pixel) approaches, comparing each against environmental background using PERMANOVA and PERMADISP. Niche overlap was also assessed using Schoener’s D. Variable importance profiles showed no consistent patterns across genera or regions, but we observed clear distinction on species occupied environmental space both within and across biogeographic regions. The relatively few cases of niche similarity and overlap occurred mainly among congeneric species and between Nearctic and Afrotropical taxa. Globally, species distributions were structured along a gradient opposing dry, thermally extreme environments and wetter, more vegetated conditions. While accumulated heat, climatic seasonality, and water-energy balance also contributed to niche differentiation. Despite honeypot ants being considered desert specialists, our results show considerable environmental heterogeneity among species. As a group, honeypot ants neither occupy the same environmental space nor experience the same contemporary climatic pressures. This suggests that repletism is not a response to a single, conserved environmental condition, but to an interaction of physiological, morphological and behavioral constraints under different climatic contexts. By characterizing the contemporary environmental niches of honeypot ants, this study establishes a baseline for further research on the evolution of repletism. While our results suggest that contemporary environmental factors cannot explain the convergence of honeypot ants, future work should examine paleoclimatic conditions along with species-level ecological traits.
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Abstract
Honeypot ants represent an example of convergent evolution, where a group of workers specialized in storing liquid food in their crops (i.e., stomach) has independently evolved multiple times across different ant genera. While seasonal resource scarcity and arid conditions are thought to drive the evolution of repletism, the role of environmental variables in this process has not been tested. With this is mind, species ensemble models were computed to assess suitability and richness areas, and the importance of predictors. Predictor importance was compared between genera and groups occupying a similar geographical area. Niche overlap and similarity between honeypot ant species were also evaluated to determine whether they occupy similar environmental spaces. Similarity was mainly found within genera, and Leptomyrmex and Myrmecocystus showed striking niche differences. Overall, Leptomyrmex distribution was mainly influenced by atmospheric bioclimatic variables like precipitation and temperature, while Myrmecocystus had soil bioclimatic variables as the most important predictors for their current distribution. Our results indicate that honeypot ants species currently do not occupy the same environmental space, and are not experiencing the same contemporary environmental stressors. While our results suggest that contemporary environmental factors cannot explain the convergence of honeypot ants, future research will examine past climatic conditions along with investigations into the ant genomes to understand more about the causes and consequences of the convergence.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
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