Rossomyrmex, the Slave-Maker Ants from the Arid Steppe Environments
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FLIGHTS of the ANT POLYERGUS LUCIDUS MAYR* Flights of Ants At
FLIGHTS OF THE ANT POLYERGUS LUCIDUS MAYR* BY MARY TALBOT Lindenwood College, St. Charles, Missouri Flights of ants at the Edwin S. George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan, have been studied over a number of years (Talbot 956, I959, 963, I964, 966, and Kannowski 959a, 959b). This paper is another in the flight series and concerns the slave-making ant, Polyergus lucidus Mayr. Polyergus colonies are scattered over the George Reserve, living in open ields or at woods' edge and forming mixed colonies with Formica pallidefulva nitidiventris Emery. The flights recorded here took place mainly from the Lawn Colony, where 26 flights were seen during 1960, 96, and 1962. These. observations were supplemented, fo.r comparison, by records of seven flights from two other colonies. The main flights, of Polyergus at he Reserve took place during August. They began in late July a.nd extended into early or mid- September. July 31, 1962 was rhe date of the earliest flight seen, although a dealate female was found on July 28, 1964. The latest flight recorded, on September 9, 1963, liberated only three males. The flight season at any one colony is long, probably a month to six weeks, and the time of starting and stopping flights must vary considerably from. colony to colony, depending on local environment o the nest and rate. of maturing of the brood. Polyergus spread the. maturing of brood of winged ants over an ex- tended period, and flights began long before all of the adults had emerged. Winged pupae have been found as early in the year as June 19, 1962, and as late as September I, 1964. -
Morphology of the Novel Basimandibular Gland in the Ant Genus Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
insects Article Morphology of the Novel Basimandibular Gland in the Ant Genus Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Chu Wang 1,* , Michael Steenhuyse-Vandevelde 1, Chung-Chi Lin 2 and Johan Billen 1 1 Zoological Institute, University of Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, Box 2466, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; [email protected] (M.S.-V.); [email protected] (J.B.) 2 Department of Biology, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua 50007, Taiwan; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Simple Summary: Ants form a diverse group of social insects that are characterized by an over- whelming variety of exocrine glands, that play a key function in the communication system and social organization of the colony. Our focus goes to the genus Strumigenys, that comprise small slow-moving ants that mainly prey on springtails. We discovered a novel gland inside the mandibles of all 22 investigated species, using light and electron microscopy. As the gland occurs close to the base of the mandibles, we name it ‘basimandibular gland’ according to the putative description given to this mandible region in a publication by the eminent British ant taxonomist Barry Bolton in 1999. The gland exists in both workers and queens and appeared most developed in the queens of Strumigenys mutica. These queens in addition to the basimandibular gland also have a cluster of gland cells near the tip of their mandibles. The queens of this species enter colonies of other Strumigenys species and parasitize on them. We expect that the peculiar development of these glands inside the mandibles of these S. mutica queens plays a role in this parasitic lifestyle, and hope that future research can shed more light on the biology of these ants. -
Raid Organization and Behavioral Development in the Slave-Making Ant Polyergus Lucidus Mayr E
Insectes Sociaux, Paris Masson, Paris, 1984 1984, Volume 31, n ~ 4, pp. 361-374 RAID ORGANIZATION AND BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE SLAVE-MAKING ANT POLYERGUS LUCIDUS MAYR E. COOL-KWAIT (1) and H. TOPOFF (2) (1) Department of Biology, City College of Cuny, New York, N.Y. I003i, U.S.A. (2) Department of Psychology, Hunter College of Cuny, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A and The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N.Y. 10024, U.S.A. Requ le 5 septembre 1983. Accept6 le 18 juin 1984. SUMMARY Mixed-species colonies of Polyergus lucidus and Fdrmica schaufussi xvere studied in New York. Slave raids were conducted in late afternoon, past the peak in diurnal temperature. Multiple raids on different Formica colonies xvere common, as ~vere re-raids on the same colony. In laboratory nests, about 75 % of the raided Formica brood was eaten. Of 27 days on ,which raids occurred in the laboratory, 25 ~vere on Formica nests scouted on the day of the raid. Polyergus scouts are among the oldest individuals in the colony, and call~ws do not participate in scouting during the entire season of their eclosion. The group of Polyergus workers that circle on the surface near the nest prior to raiding has a dynamic composition.. The most frequent behavioral transition ~vas from circling on one day to scouting on the next. The next most common change was from SCOUting to circling. The first scouting of the spring season occurred only one day after the appearance of Polyergus larvae. The first slave raid 'was conducted 4 days later. -
Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Myrmecological News 20 25-36 Online Earlier, for print 2014 The evolution and functional morphology of trap-jaw ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fredrick J. LARABEE & Andrew V. SUAREZ Abstract We review the biology of trap-jaw ants whose highly specialized mandibles generate extreme speeds and forces for predation and defense. Trap-jaw ants are characterized by elongated, power-amplified mandibles and use a combination of latches and springs to generate some of the fastest animal movements ever recorded. Remarkably, trap jaws have evolved at least four times in three subfamilies of ants. In this review, we discuss what is currently known about the evolution, morphology, kinematics, and behavior of trap-jaw ants, with special attention to the similarities and key dif- ferences among the independent lineages. We also highlight gaps in our knowledge and provide suggestions for future research on this notable group of ants. Key words: Review, trap-jaw ants, functional morphology, biomechanics, Odontomachus, Anochetus, Myrmoteras, Dacetini. Myrmecol. News 20: 25-36 (online xxx 2014) ISSN 1994-4136 (print), ISSN 1997-3500 (online) Received 2 September 2013; revision received 17 December 2013; accepted 22 January 2014 Subject Editor: Herbert Zettel Fredrick J. Larabee (contact author), Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. E-mail: [email protected] Andrew V. Suarez, Department of Entomology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, Univer- sity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. -
Radiation in Socially Parasitic Formicoxenine Ants
RADIATION IN SOCIALLY PARASITIC FORMICOXENINE ANTS DISSERTATION ZUR ERLANGUNG DES DOKTORGRADES DER NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN (D R. R ER . N AT .) DER NATURWISSENSCHAFTLICHEN FAKULTÄT III – BIOLOGIE UND VORKLINISCHE MEDIZIN DER UNIVERSITÄT REGENSBURG vorgelegt von Jeanette Beibl aus Landshut 04/2007 General Introduction II Promotionsgesuch eingereicht am: 19.04.2007 Die Arbeit wurde angeleitet von: Prof. Dr. J. Heinze Prüfungsausschuss: Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. S. Schneuwly 1. Prüfer: Prof. Dr. J. Heinze 2. Prüfer: Prof. Dr. S. Foitzik 3. Prüfer: Prof. Dr. P. Poschlod General Introduction I TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: Six origins of slavery in formicoxenine ants 13 Introduction 15 Material and Methods 17 Results 20 Discussion 23 CHAPTER 2: Phylogeny and phylogeography of the Mediterranean species of the parasitic ant genus Chalepoxenus and its Temnothorax hosts 27 Introduction 29 Material and Methods 31 Results 36 Discussion 43 CHAPTER 3: Phylogenetic analyses of the parasitic ant genus Myrmoxenus 46 Introduction 48 Material and Methods 50 Results 54 Discussion 59 CHAPTER 4: Cuticular profiles and mating preference in a slave-making ant 61 Introduction 63 Material and Methods 65 Results 69 Discussion 75 CHAPTER 5: Influence of the slaves on the cuticular profile of the slave-making ant Chalepoxenus muellerianus and vice versa 78 Introduction 80 Material and Methods 82 Results 86 Discussion 89 GENERAL DISCUSSION 91 SUMMARY 99 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 101 REFERENCES 103 APPENDIX 119 DANKSAGUNG 120 General Introduction 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Parasitism is an extremely successful mode of life and is considered to be one of the most potent forces in evolution. As many degrees of symbiosis, a phenomenon in which two unrelated organisms coexist over a prolonged period of time while depending on each other, occur, it is not easy to unequivocally define parasitism (Cheng, 1991). -
Akes an Ant an Ant? Are Insects, and Insects Are Arth Ropods: Invertebrates (Animals With
~ . r. workers will begin to produce eggs if the queen dies. Because ~ eggs are unfertilized, they usually develop into males (see the discus : ~ iaplodiploidy and the evolution of eusociality later in this chapter). =- cases, however, workers can produce new queens either from un ze eggs (parthenogenetically) or after mating with a male ant. -;c. ant colony will continue to grow in size and add workers, but at -: :;oint it becomes mature and will begin sexual reproduction by pro· . ~ -irgin queens and males. Many specie s produce males and repro 0 _ " females just before the nuptial flight . Others produce males and ---: : ._ tive fem ales that stay in the nest for a long time before the nuptial :- ~. Our largest carpenter ant, Camponotus herculeanus, produces males _ . -:= 'n queens in late summer. They are groomed and fed by workers :;' 0 it the fall and winter before they emerge from the colonies for their ;;. ights in the spring. Fin ally, some species, including Monomoriurn : .:5 and Myrmica rubra, have large colonies with multiple que ens that .~ ..ew colonies asexually by fragmenting the original colony. However, _ --' e polygynous (literally, many queens) and polydomous (literally, uses, referring to their many nests) ants eventually go through a -">O=- r' sexual reproduction in which males and new queens are produced. ~ :- . ant colony thus functions as a highly social, organ ized "super _ _ " 1." The queens and mo st workers are safely hidden below ground : : ~ - ed within the interstices of rotting wood. But for the ant workers ~ '_i S ' go out and forage for food for the colony,'life above ground is - =- . -
Borowiec Et Al-2020 Ants – Phylogeny and Classification
A Ants: Phylogeny and 1758 when the Swedish botanist Carl von Linné Classification published the tenth edition of his catalog of all plant and animal species known at the time. Marek L. Borowiec1, Corrie S. Moreau2 and Among the approximately 4,200 animals that he Christian Rabeling3 included were 17 species of ants. The succeeding 1University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA two and a half centuries have seen tremendous 2Departments of Entomology and Ecology & progress in the theory and practice of biological Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, classification. Here we provide a summary of the NY, USA current state of phylogenetic and systematic 3Social Insect Research Group, Arizona State research on the ants. University, Tempe, AZ, USA Ants Within the Hymenoptera Tree of Ants are the most ubiquitous and ecologically Life dominant insects on the face of our Earth. This is believed to be due in large part to the cooperation Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera, which also allowed by their sociality. At the time of writing, includes wasps and bees. ▶ Eusociality, or true about 13,500 ant species are described and sociality, evolved multiple times within the named, classified into 334 genera that make up order, with ants as by far the most widespread, 17 subfamilies (Fig. 1). This diversity makes the abundant, and species-rich lineage of eusocial ants the world’s by far the most speciose group of animals. Within the Hymenoptera, ants are part eusocial insects, but ants are not only diverse in of the ▶ Aculeata, the clade in which the ovipos- terms of numbers of species. -
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Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8 257 - 262 Wien, September 2006 Formica lusatica SEIFERT, 1997 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an ant species new to Finland, with notes on its biology and the description of males Wojciech CZECHOWSKI & Alexander RADCHENKO Abstract A taxonomically problematic ant species from southernmost Finland, so far determined as Formica rufibarbis FABRICIUS, 1793 or / and F. cunicularia LATREILLE, 1798, is identified as Formica lusatica SEIFERT, 1997. This is the first report of this species from Finland. Aspects of the biology of F. lusatica under the local conditions, and especially its relations with Formica sanguinea LATREILLE, 1798, are presented and the description of its males is given. Key words: Ants, Formica lusatica, Formica sanguinea, fauna, taxonomy, description of male, ecology, social para- sitism, Finland. Prof. Dr. Wojciech Czechowski (contact author), Prof. Dr. Alexander Radchenko, Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 64 Wilcza Str., 00-679, Warsaw, Poland. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]. kiev.ua Introduction Until recently, two species of the Formica rufibarbis com- given by SEIFERT (1996) in the key. Together with this plex were recorded in Finland: F. rufibarbis FABRICIUS, report, we describe the males of F. lusatica and briefly 1793 (COLLINGWOOD 1979) and F. cunicularia LATREILLE, compare them with the males of F. cunicularia and F. rufi- 1798 (ALBRECHT 1993), both reported only from the south- barbis. The aim of the study was also to describe elements ern part of the country (approximately to latitude 62° N). of biology of F. lusatica, especially the nature of its rela- The main morphological differences between F. -
Above-Belowground Effects of the Invasive Ant Lasius Neglectus in an Urban Holm Oak Forest
U B Universidad Autónoma de Barce lona Departamento de Biología Animal, de Biología Vegetal y de Ecología Unidad de Ecología Above-belowground effects of the invasive ant Lasius neglectus in an urban holm oak forest Tesis doctoral Carolina Ivon Paris Bellaterra, Junio 2007 U B Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona Departamento de Biología Animal, de Biología Vegetal y de Ecología Unidad de Ecología Above-belowground effects of the invasive ant Lasius neglectus in an urban holm oak forest Memoria presentada por: Carolina Ivon Paris Para optar al grado de Doctora en Ciencias Biológicas Con el Vº. Bº.: Dr Xavier Espadaler Carolina Ivon Paris Investigador de la Unidad de Ecología Doctoranda Director de tesis Bellaterra, Junio de 2007 A mis padres, Andrés y María Marta, y a mi gran amor Pablo. Agradecimientos. En este breve texto quiero homenajear a través de mi más sincero agradecimiento a quienes me ayudaron a mejorar como persona y como científica. Al Dr Xavier Espadaler por admitirme como doctoranda, por estar siempre dispuesto a darme consejos tanto a nivel profesional como personal, por darme la libertad necesaria para crecer como investigadora y orientarme en los momentos de inseguridad. Xavier: nuestras charlas más de una vez trascendieron el ámbito académico y fue un gustazo escucharte y compartir con vos algunos almuerzos. Te prometo que te enviaré hormigas de la Patagonia Argentina para tu deleite taxonómico. A Pablo. ¿Qué puedo decirte mi amor qué ya no te haya dicho? Gracias por la paciencia, el empuje y la ayuda que me diste en todo momento. Estuviste atento a los más mínimos detalles para facilitarme el trabajo de campo y de escritura. -
Redalyc.Polinización Por Hormigas
Ecosistemas ISSN: 1132-6344 [email protected] Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre España de Vega, C.; Gómez, J.M. Polinización por hormigas: conceptos, evidencias y futuras direcciones Ecosistemas, vol. 23, núm. 3, septiembre-diciembre, 2014, pp. 48-57 Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre Alicante, España Disponible en: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=54032954007 Cómo citar el artículo Número completo Sistema de Información Científica Más información del artículo Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal Página de la revista en redalyc.org Proyecto académico sin fines de lucro, desarrollado bajo la iniciativa de acceso abierto Ecosistemas 23(3): 48-57 [Septiembre-Diciembre 2014] Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2014.23-3.07 Artículo publicado en Open Access bajo los términos AEET de Creative Commons attribution Non Comercial License 3.0. eREVIScTA CoIENTÍFsICA DiEs ECOLtOGeÍA Y MmEDIO AaMBIENs TE ASOCIACIÓN ESPAÑOLA MONOGRÁFICO: ISSN 1697-2473 / Open access DE ECOLOGÍA TERRESTRE Ecología reproductiva de las plantas disponible en www.revistaecosistemas.net Polinización por hormigas: conceptos, evidencias y futuras direcciones C. de Vega 1*, J.M. Gómez 2,3 (1) Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida de Américo Vespucio s/n, 41092 Sevilla, España. (2) Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas. CSIC. Ctra. Sacramento s/n. La Cañada de San Urbano. 04120 Almería, España. (3) Departamento de Ecología. Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad de Granada. 18071 Granada, España. * Autor de correspondencia: C. de Vega [[email protected]] > Recibido el 31 de diciembre de 2013 - Aceptado el 10 de marzo de 2014 de Vega, C., Gómez, J.M. -
The Evolution of Social Parasitism in Formica Ants Revealed by a Global Phylogeny – Supplementary Figures, Tables, and References
The evolution of social parasitism in Formica ants revealed by a global phylogeny – Supplementary figures, tables, and references Marek L. Borowiec Stefan P. Cover Christian Rabeling 1 Supplementary Methods Data availability Trimmed reads generated for this study are available at the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (to be submit ted upon publication). Detailed voucher collection information, assembled sequences, analyzed matrices, configuration files and output of all analyses, and code used are available on Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zen odo.4341310). Taxon sampling For this study we gathered samples collected in the past ~60 years which were available as either ethanol preserved or pointmounted specimens. Taxon sampling comprises 101 newly sequenced ingroup morphos pecies from all seven species groups of Formica ants Creighton (1950) that were recognized prior to our study and 8 outgroup species. Our sampling was guided by previous taxonomic and phylogenetic work Creighton (1950); Francoeur (1973); Snelling and Buren (1985); Seifert (2000, 2002, 2004); Goropashnaya et al. (2004, 2012); Trager et al. (2007); Trager (2013); Seifert and Schultz (2009a,b); MuñozLópez et al. (2012); Antonov and Bukin (2016); Chen and Zhou (2017); Romiguier et al. (2018) and included represen tatives from both the New and the Old World. Collection data associated with sequenced samples can be found in Table S1. Molecular data collection and sequencing We performed nondestructive extraction and preserved samespecimen vouchers for each newly sequenced sample. We remounted all vouchers, assigned unique specimen identifiers (Table S1), and deposited them in the ASU Social Insect Biodiversity Repository (contact: Christian Rabeling, [email protected]). -
Cataglyphis Desert Ants: a Good Model for Evolutionary Biology in Darwin's
Cataglyphis desert ants: a good model for evolutionary biology in Darwin’s anniversary year—A review ALAIN LENOIR,1 SERGE ARON,2 XIM CERDÁ,3 AND ABRAHAM HEFETZ4 1IRBI, UMR CNRS 6035, Université François Rabelais, Faculté des Sciences, 37200 Tours, France. E-mail: [email protected] 2Université Libre de Bruxelles, Service Évolution Biologique & Écologie, C.P. 160/12 50, av. F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. E-mail: [email protected] 3Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain. E-mail: [email protected] 4Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Cataglyphis ants comprise one of the most characteristic groups of insects in arid regions around the Mediterranean basin and have been intensively stud- ied over the last 30 years. These ants are central-place foragers and scaven- gers, single-prey loaders that have become a model for insect navigation using sophisticated visual orientation, having lost pheromone orientation. They are highly heat-tolerant ants that forage close to their critical thermal limit dur- ing the hottest hours of the day, with their long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons protecting them from desiccation. This is exemplified in two Cataglyphis species, each of which developed different mechanisms for counteracting extreme heat when foraging: polymorphism of workers vs. physiological and behavioral adaptations. Several species in this genus have also become a model for studying nestmate recognition mechanisms. The role of cuticular hydrocarbons and the postpharyngeal gland as a reservoir of hydrocarbons in nestmate recognition was initially discovered mainly in Cataglyphis, includ- ing the first experimental demonstration of the Gestalt model of nestmate recognition.