01865nas a2200169   4500008004100000020001400041245007200055210006900127260000800196300001400204490000700218520131800225653001501543100001601558700002501574856009601599       2010                        eng d  a0014-382000aREPEATED EVOLUTION OF CROP THEFT IN FUNGUS-FARMING AMBROSIA BEETLES0 aREPEATED EVOLUTION OF CROP THEFT IN FUNGUSFARMING AMBROSIA BEETL  cNov  a3205-32120 v643 aAmbrosia beetles, dominant wood degraders in the tropics, create tunnels in dead trees and employ gardens of symbiotic fungi to extract nutrients from wood. Specificity of the beetle-fungus relationship has rarely been examined, and simple vertical transmission of a specific fungal cultivar by each beetle species is often assumed in literature. We report repeated evolution of fungal crop stealing, termed mycocleptism, among ambrosia beetles. The mycocleptic species seek brood galleries of other species, and exploit their established fungal gardens by tunneling through the ambient mycelium-laden wood. Instead of carrying their own fungal sybmbionts, mycocleptae depend on adopting the fungal assemblages of their host species, as shown by an analysis of fungal DNA from beetle galleries. The evidence for widespread horizontal exchange of fungi between beetles challenges the traditional concept of ambrosia fungi as species-specific symbionts. Fungus stealing appears to be an evolutionarily successful strategy. It evolved independently in several beetle clades, two of which have radiated, and at least one case was accompanied by a loss of the beetles' fungus-transporting organs. We demonstrate this using the first robust phylogeny of one of the world's largest group of ambrosia beetles, Xyleborini.10aXyleborini1 aHulcr, Jiri1 aCognato, Anthony, I.  uhttps://weevil.myspecies.info/repeated-evolution-crop-theft-fungus-farming-ambrosia-beetles