Overview
I am interested in parasite exploitation strategies and how they are shaped by host life history. Of particular interest is the adaptive manipulation of host behaviour by parasites. I mostly work with social insects as hosts because the behavioural changes of infected individuals can be set within a sociobiological framework. I am member of the Behaviour research group. I am currently at Harvard University and will return to Exeter in April 2010.
During my time away a major occupation will be generating funding to take on students and staff. If you are student at Exeter Biosciences (either campus) and interested in the work I do, then do contact me and we can discuss the research. I usually do field work (in Thailand) in September and getting involved in this would serve as an ideal way to get to know one another.
Qualifications
1999 - 2003 DPhil (Oxford) Thesis: 'The behavioural ecology of strepsipteran parasites of Polistes wasps'
1994- 1999 BSc Zoology (Glasgow)
Career
2008-2011 Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship at Harvard & Exeter
2005-2008 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship at Copenhagen
2003-2005 EU 6th Framework Training Network post-doc at Oulu
Research
Research interests
I have spent the last three years developing the infection of Carpenter ants by the behaviourally manipulating fungus, Ophiocordyceps (=Cordyceps) unilateralis, as a model for a range of ecological, evolutionary and mechanistic approaches. The work takes place in Thailand.
Research projects
The proximate mechanisms of behavioural manipulation by a fungus: The fungus Ophiocordyceps causes a dramatic change in ant behaviour. It induces infected ants to bite vegetation before killing the hapless host and converting its tissue into fungal spores that are shot from a large stalk that grows out from the head. What I want to determine, using a combined bio imaging, transcriptomic and metabolomic approach, is how the fungus controls ant behaviour? This research direction will be the prime focus of my work at Exeter over the coming years as I build up my own research group. I plan to use the considerable in-house expertise in fungal & microbial molecular biology to determine the mechanistic basis of a complex behavioural pas de deux between fungus and ant.
The phylogenetics and phylogeography of behavioural manipulation: The fungus O. unilateralis is pan-tropical and manipulates a wide range of ant species both at the local scale of Thailand where I work and on a global scale. It is one of a small number of currently recognized species within the genus Ophiocordyceps that manipulate ant behaviour. During my current 18-month stay at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ, Pierce Lab) I will re-construct an ant-Ophiocordyceps phylogeny on a local (Thailand) and global scale. The MCZ has been, and continues to be, the centre of ant studies in the world and also has very significant strengths in phylogenetics and life history theory.
The ecological consequences of behavioural manipulation: An infected ant expresses behaviour that benefits fungal and not ant genes. This is a parasite extended phenotype. I am interested in the ecology of these extended phenotypes. There have been three research foci of this project: spatial ecology, behavioural ecology and community ecology. This work took place during my tenure in the Centre for Social Evolution (CSE), Copenhagen under a Marie Curie Fellowship where Koos Boomsma was the hosting scientist. I aim to continue my ecological work while at the School of Biosciences and am keen to develop links with students at the Cornwall campus.
Research networks
Centre for Social Evolution, Copenhagen SE
Mycology Lab at BIOTEC, Bangkok
Pierce Lab, Harvard
Tom Gilbert, Copenhagen
Research grants
- 2008 Marie Curie Fellowship
2008-2011 Marie Curie Fellowship
- 2008 European Science Foundation
Exploratory Workshop grant
- 2007 World Wildlife Fund
Novozymes Biodiversity grant
- 2006 Marie Curie Fellowship
Marie Curie Fellowship
Links
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Pontoppidan M-B, Himaman W, Hywel-Jones NL, Boomsma JJ, Hughes DP (2009). Graveyards on the move: the spatio-temporal distribution of dead ophiocordyceps-infected ants.
PLoS One,
4(3).
Abstract:
Graveyards on the move: the spatio-temporal distribution of dead ophiocordyceps-infected ants.
Parasites are likely to play an important role in structuring host populations. Many adaptively manipulate host behaviour, so that the extended phenotypes of these parasites and their distributions in space and time are potentially important ecological variables. The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which is pan-tropical in distribution, causes infected worker ants to leave their nest and die under leaves in the understory of tropical rainforests. Working in a forest dynamic plot in Southern Thailand we mapped the occurrence of these dead ants by examining every leaf in 1,360 m(2) of primary rainforest. We established that high density aggregations exist (up to 26 dead ants/m(2)), which we coined graveyards. We further established that graveyards are patchily distributed in a landscape with no or very few O. unilateralis-killed ants. At some, but not all, spatial scales of analysis the density of dead ants correlated with temperature, humidity and vegetation cover. Remarkably, having found 2243 dead ants inside graveyards we only found 2 live ants of the principal host, ant Camponotus leonardi, suggesting that foraging host ants actively avoid graveyards. We discovered that the principal host ant builds nests in high canopy and its trails only occasionally descend to the forest floor where infection occurs. We advance the hypothesis that rare descents may be a function of limited canopy access to tree crowns and that resource profitability of such trees is potentially traded off against the risk of losing workers due to infection when forest floor trails are the only access routes. Our work underscores the need for an integrative approach that recognises multiple facets of parasitism, such as their extended phenotypes.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Kronauer DJC, Boomsma JJ (2008). Extended phenotype: nematodes turn ants into bird-dispersed fruits.
Curr Biol,
18(7), R294-R295.
Abstract:
Extended phenotype: nematodes turn ants into bird-dispersed fruits.
A recent study has discovered a novel extended phenotype of a nematode which alters its ant host to resemble ripe fruit. The infected ants are in turn eaten by frugivorous birds that disperse the nematode's eggs.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Sanchez MI, Ponton F, Misse D, Hughes DP, Thomas F (2008). Hairworm response to notonectid attacks.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
75, 823-826.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Pierce NE, Boomsma JJ (2008). Social insect symbionts: evolution in homeostatic fortresses.
Trends Ecol Evol,
23(12), 672-677.
Abstract:
Social insect symbionts: evolution in homeostatic fortresses.
The massive environmentally buffered nests of some social insects can contain millions of individuals and a wide variety of parasites, commensals and mutualists. We suggest that the ways in which these homeostatic fortress environments affect the evolution of social insect symbionts are relevant for epidemiology, evolutionary biology and macroecology. We contend that specialized parasites will tend to become less virulent and mutualists less cooperative, compared to those associated with solitary or small-colony hosts. These processes are expected to contribute to the very high symbiont diversity observed in these nests. We hypothesize that biodiversity gradients in these hotspots might be less affected by abiotic latitudinal clines than gradients in neighboring 'control' habitats. We suggest several research lines to test these ideas.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Cremer S, Ugelvig LV, Drijfhout FP, Schlick-Steiner BC, Steiner FM, Seifert B, Hughes DP, Schulz A, Petersen KS, Konrad H, et al (2008). The evolution of invasiveness in garden ants.
PLoS One,
3(12).
Abstract:
The evolution of invasiveness in garden ants.
It is unclear why some species become successful invaders whilst others fail, and whether invasive success depends on pre-adaptations already present in the native range or on characters evolving de-novo after introduction. Ants are among the worst invasive pests, with Lasius neglectus and its rapid spread through Europe and Asia as the most recent example of a pest ant that may become a global problem. Here, we present the first integrated study on behavior, morphology, population genetics, chemical recognition and parasite load of L. neglectus and its non-invasive sister species L. turcicus. We find that L. neglectus expresses the same supercolonial syndrome as other invasive ants, a social system that is characterized by mating without dispersal and large networks of cooperating nests rather than smaller mutually hostile colonies. We conclude that the invasive success of L. neglectus relies on a combination of parasite-release following introduction and pre-adaptations in mating system, body-size, queen number and recognition efficiency that evolved long before introduction. Our results challenge the notion that supercolonial organization is an inevitable consequence of low genetic variation for chemical recognition cues in small invasive founder populations. We infer that low variation and limited volatility in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles already existed in the native range in combination with low dispersal and a highly viscous population structure. Human transport to relatively disturbed urban areas thus became the decisive factor to induce parasite release, a well established general promoter of invasiveness in non-social animals and plants, but understudied in invasive social insects.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Sanchez MI, Ponton F, Schmidt-Rhaesa A, Hughes DP, Misse D, Thomas F (2008). Two steps to suicide in crickets harbouring hairworms.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
76, 1621-1624.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Cremer S (2007). Plasticity in antiparasite behaviours and its suggested role in invasion biology.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
74, 1593-1599.
Author URL.
Kathirithamby J, Hughes DP (2006). Description and biological notes of the first species of Xenos (Strepsiptera : Stylopidae) parasitic in Polistes carnifex F. (Hymenoptera : Vespidae) in Mexico.
ZOOTAXA(1104), 35-45.
Author URL.
Ponton F, Lebarbenchon C, Lefevre T, Thomas F, Duneau D, Marche L, Renault L, Hughes DP, Biron DG (2006). Hairworm anti-predator strategy: a study of causes and consequences.
PARASITOLOGY,
133, 631-638.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Boomsma JJ (2006). Muscling out malaria.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,
21(10), 533-534.
Author URL.
Ponton F, Lebarbenchon C, Lefevre T, Biron DG, Duneau D, Hughes DP, Thomas F (2006). Parasitology - Parasite survives predation on its host.
NATURE,
440(7085), 756-756.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J (2005). Cost of strepsipteran macroparasitism for immature wasps: does sociality modulate virulence?.
OIKOS,
110(3), 428-434.
Author URL.
Hughes DP (2005). Parasitic manipulation: a social context.
Behav Processes,
68(3), 263-266.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Pamilo P, Kathirithamby J (2004). Horizontal transmission of Wolbachia by strepsipteran endoparasites? a response to Noda et al. 2001.
Mol Ecol,
13(2), 507-509.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J, Beani L (2004). Prevalence of the parasite Strepsiptera in adult Polistes wasps: field collections and literature overview.
ETHOLOGY ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,
16(4), 363-375.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J, Turillazzi S, Beani L (2004). Social wasps desert the colony and aggregate outside if parasitized: parasite manipulation?.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY,
15(6), 1037-1043.
Author URL.
Johnston JS, Ross LD, Beani L, Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J (2004). Tiny genomes and endoreduplication in Strepsiptera.
INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY,
13(6), 581-585.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Beani L, Turillazzi S, Kathirithamby J (2003). Prevalence of the parasite Strepsiptera in Polistes as detected by dissection of immatures.
INSECTES SOCIAUX,
50(1), 62-68.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Moya-Raygoza G, Kathirithamby J (2003). The first record among Dolichoderinae (Formicidae) of parasitism by Strepsiptera.
INSECTES SOCIAUX,
50(2), 148-150.
Author URL.
Kathirithamby J, Hughes DP (2002). Caenocholax fenyesi (Strepsiptera : Myrmecolacidae) parasitic in Camponotus planatus (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) in Mexico: is this the original host?.
ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA,
95(5), 558-563.
Author URL.
Publications by year
2009
Pontoppidan M-B, Himaman W, Hywel-Jones NL, Boomsma JJ, Hughes DP (2009). Graveyards on the move: the spatio-temporal distribution of dead ophiocordyceps-infected ants.
PLoS One,
4(3).
Abstract:
Graveyards on the move: the spatio-temporal distribution of dead ophiocordyceps-infected ants.
Parasites are likely to play an important role in structuring host populations. Many adaptively manipulate host behaviour, so that the extended phenotypes of these parasites and their distributions in space and time are potentially important ecological variables. The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which is pan-tropical in distribution, causes infected worker ants to leave their nest and die under leaves in the understory of tropical rainforests. Working in a forest dynamic plot in Southern Thailand we mapped the occurrence of these dead ants by examining every leaf in 1,360 m(2) of primary rainforest. We established that high density aggregations exist (up to 26 dead ants/m(2)), which we coined graveyards. We further established that graveyards are patchily distributed in a landscape with no or very few O. unilateralis-killed ants. At some, but not all, spatial scales of analysis the density of dead ants correlated with temperature, humidity and vegetation cover. Remarkably, having found 2243 dead ants inside graveyards we only found 2 live ants of the principal host, ant Camponotus leonardi, suggesting that foraging host ants actively avoid graveyards. We discovered that the principal host ant builds nests in high canopy and its trails only occasionally descend to the forest floor where infection occurs. We advance the hypothesis that rare descents may be a function of limited canopy access to tree crowns and that resource profitability of such trees is potentially traded off against the risk of losing workers due to infection when forest floor trails are the only access routes. Our work underscores the need for an integrative approach that recognises multiple facets of parasitism, such as their extended phenotypes.
Abstract.
Author URL.
2008
Hughes DP, Kronauer DJC, Boomsma JJ (2008). Extended phenotype: nematodes turn ants into bird-dispersed fruits.
Curr Biol,
18(7), R294-R295.
Abstract:
Extended phenotype: nematodes turn ants into bird-dispersed fruits.
A recent study has discovered a novel extended phenotype of a nematode which alters its ant host to resemble ripe fruit. The infected ants are in turn eaten by frugivorous birds that disperse the nematode's eggs.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Sanchez MI, Ponton F, Misse D, Hughes DP, Thomas F (2008). Hairworm response to notonectid attacks.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
75, 823-826.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Pierce NE, Boomsma JJ (2008). Social insect symbionts: evolution in homeostatic fortresses.
Trends Ecol Evol,
23(12), 672-677.
Abstract:
Social insect symbionts: evolution in homeostatic fortresses.
The massive environmentally buffered nests of some social insects can contain millions of individuals and a wide variety of parasites, commensals and mutualists. We suggest that the ways in which these homeostatic fortress environments affect the evolution of social insect symbionts are relevant for epidemiology, evolutionary biology and macroecology. We contend that specialized parasites will tend to become less virulent and mutualists less cooperative, compared to those associated with solitary or small-colony hosts. These processes are expected to contribute to the very high symbiont diversity observed in these nests. We hypothesize that biodiversity gradients in these hotspots might be less affected by abiotic latitudinal clines than gradients in neighboring 'control' habitats. We suggest several research lines to test these ideas.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Cremer S, Ugelvig LV, Drijfhout FP, Schlick-Steiner BC, Steiner FM, Seifert B, Hughes DP, Schulz A, Petersen KS, Konrad H, et al (2008). The evolution of invasiveness in garden ants.
PLoS One,
3(12).
Abstract:
The evolution of invasiveness in garden ants.
It is unclear why some species become successful invaders whilst others fail, and whether invasive success depends on pre-adaptations already present in the native range or on characters evolving de-novo after introduction. Ants are among the worst invasive pests, with Lasius neglectus and its rapid spread through Europe and Asia as the most recent example of a pest ant that may become a global problem. Here, we present the first integrated study on behavior, morphology, population genetics, chemical recognition and parasite load of L. neglectus and its non-invasive sister species L. turcicus. We find that L. neglectus expresses the same supercolonial syndrome as other invasive ants, a social system that is characterized by mating without dispersal and large networks of cooperating nests rather than smaller mutually hostile colonies. We conclude that the invasive success of L. neglectus relies on a combination of parasite-release following introduction and pre-adaptations in mating system, body-size, queen number and recognition efficiency that evolved long before introduction. Our results challenge the notion that supercolonial organization is an inevitable consequence of low genetic variation for chemical recognition cues in small invasive founder populations. We infer that low variation and limited volatility in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles already existed in the native range in combination with low dispersal and a highly viscous population structure. Human transport to relatively disturbed urban areas thus became the decisive factor to induce parasite release, a well established general promoter of invasiveness in non-social animals and plants, but understudied in invasive social insects.
Abstract.
Author URL.
Sanchez MI, Ponton F, Schmidt-Rhaesa A, Hughes DP, Misse D, Thomas F (2008). Two steps to suicide in crickets harbouring hairworms.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
76, 1621-1624.
Author URL.
2007
Hughes DP, Cremer S (2007). Plasticity in antiparasite behaviours and its suggested role in invasion biology.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR,
74, 1593-1599.
Author URL.
2006
Kathirithamby J, Hughes DP (2006). Description and biological notes of the first species of Xenos (Strepsiptera : Stylopidae) parasitic in Polistes carnifex F. (Hymenoptera : Vespidae) in Mexico.
ZOOTAXA(1104), 35-45.
Author URL.
Ponton F, Lebarbenchon C, Lefevre T, Thomas F, Duneau D, Marche L, Renault L, Hughes DP, Biron DG (2006). Hairworm anti-predator strategy: a study of causes and consequences.
PARASITOLOGY,
133, 631-638.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Boomsma JJ (2006). Muscling out malaria.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,
21(10), 533-534.
Author URL.
Ponton F, Lebarbenchon C, Lefevre T, Biron DG, Duneau D, Hughes DP, Thomas F (2006). Parasitology - Parasite survives predation on its host.
NATURE,
440(7085), 756-756.
Author URL.
2005
Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J (2005). Cost of strepsipteran macroparasitism for immature wasps: does sociality modulate virulence?.
OIKOS,
110(3), 428-434.
Author URL.
Hughes DP (2005). Parasitic manipulation: a social context.
Behav Processes,
68(3), 263-266.
Author URL.
2004
Hughes DP, Pamilo P, Kathirithamby J (2004). Horizontal transmission of Wolbachia by strepsipteran endoparasites? a response to Noda et al. 2001.
Mol Ecol,
13(2), 507-509.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J, Beani L (2004). Prevalence of the parasite Strepsiptera in adult Polistes wasps: field collections and literature overview.
ETHOLOGY ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,
16(4), 363-375.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J, Turillazzi S, Beani L (2004). Social wasps desert the colony and aggregate outside if parasitized: parasite manipulation?.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY,
15(6), 1037-1043.
Author URL.
Johnston JS, Ross LD, Beani L, Hughes DP, Kathirithamby J (2004). Tiny genomes and endoreduplication in Strepsiptera.
INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY,
13(6), 581-585.
Author URL.
2003
Hughes DP, Beani L, Turillazzi S, Kathirithamby J (2003). Prevalence of the parasite Strepsiptera in Polistes as detected by dissection of immatures.
INSECTES SOCIAUX,
50(1), 62-68.
Author URL.
Hughes DP, Moya-Raygoza G, Kathirithamby J (2003). The first record among Dolichoderinae (Formicidae) of parasitism by Strepsiptera.
INSECTES SOCIAUX,
50(2), 148-150.
Author URL.
2002
Kathirithamby J, Hughes DP (2002). Caenocholax fenyesi (Strepsiptera : Myrmecolacidae) parasitic in Camponotus planatus (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) in Mexico: is this the original host?.
ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA,
95(5), 558-563.
Author URL.
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External Engagement and Impact
Editorial responsibilities
I have acted as a reviewer for Biology Letters, Molecular Ecology, Ecological Entomology, Parasitology and Proceeding of the Royal Society.
In 2008 I edited a book for OUP, with Patrizia d’Ettorre.
Invited lectures
I have given many departmental lectures in a number of fine institutions.
Media Coverage
National Geographic are doing a feature length article on my research in Thailand and parasites more generally.
Workshops/Conferences organised
I am convening an ESF Exploratory Workshop to take place in Copenhagen in early November. The topic is the extended phenotype, I hope to get a website up and running disseminating the activities and outcome of this.
