Now you see me, now you don't: Host defense triggers rapid diversification of cryptic coloration in experimentally evolving parasites

Adaptive radiation occurs when the members of a single lineage evolve different adaptive forms in response to selection imposed by competitors or predators. Although adaptive radiation is thought to be an important generator of biodiversity, most studies concern groups that have already diversified. Here we take the opposite approach. We experimentally triggered diversification in the descendants of a single population of host-specific parasites confined to different host “islands”. We show rapid adaptive divergence of experimentally evolving feather lice in response to preening, which is a bird's main defense against ectoparasites. We demonstrate that host defense exerts strong phenotypic selection for crypsis in lice transferred to different colored avian hosts. During four years of experimental evolution (~60 generations), the lice evolved heritable differences that spanned the range of phenotypes found among congeneric lice adapted to other species of birds. Our results further indicate that host-mediated selection triggers rapid divergence in the adaptive radiation of parasites, which are among the most diverse organisms on Earth.