Formicidae: Myrmicinae)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Redescription of Monomorium Pallidumdonisthorpe, 1918, Revised
ASIAN MYRMECOLOGY — Volume 11, e011001, 2019 ISSN 1985-1944 | eISSN: 2462-2362 DOI: 10.20362/am.011001 Redescription of Monomorium pallidum Donisthorpe, 1918, revised status Lech Borowiec1*, Mohammad Saeed Mossadegh2, Sebastian Salata3, Shima Mohammadi4, Ebrahim Tamoli Torfi2, Mehdi Toosi2 and Ali Almasi2 1Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Taxonomy, University of Wrocław, Przybyszewskiego 65, 51-148 Wrocław, Poland 2Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University, Ahwaz, Iran 3Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bukowska 19, 60- 809 Poznań, Poland 4No.34, 62nd Alley Pasdaran Blvd., Shiraz, Iran *Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT. Monomorium pallidum Donisthorpe, 1918 is redescribed based on material from Iran (new country record). It is removed from the genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865, its species status is retrieved and placed in the M. monomorium group of the genus Monomorium Mayr, 1855. Keywords Iran, key, Monomorium monomorium-group, Palearctic Region, Middle East. Citation Lech Borowiec et al. (2019) Redescription of Monomorium pallidum Donisthorpe, 1918, revised status. Asian Myrmecology 11: e011001 Copyright This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License CCBY4.0 Communicating Francisco Hita Garcia Editor INTRODUCTION iterraneo-Sindian region (Vigna Taglianti et al. 1999), with a large number of described infraspe- With 358 described species and 25 valid sub- cific taxa, stands in need of further investigation species, Monomorium Mayr, 1855 is one of the (Borowiec 2014). Thanks to the most recent revi- largest myrmicine genera, which is distributed sion of the Arabian species of the M. monomo- worldwide in tropical and warm temperate re- rium group (Sharaf et al. -
Digging Deeper Into the Ecology of Subterranean Ants: Diversity and Niche Partitioning Across Two Continents
diversity Article Digging Deeper into the Ecology of Subterranean Ants: Diversity and Niche Partitioning across Two Continents Mickal Houadria * and Florian Menzel Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Soil fauna is generally understudied compared to above-ground arthropods, and ants are no exception. Here, we compared a primary and a secondary forest each on two continents using four different sampling methods. Winkler sampling, pitfalls, and four types of above- and below-ground baits (dead, crushed insects; melezitose; living termites; living mealworms/grasshoppers) were applied on four plots (4 × 4 grid points) on each site. Although less diverse than Winkler samples and pitfalls, subterranean baits provided a remarkable ant community. Our baiting system provided a large dataset to systematically quantify strata and dietary specialisation in tropical rainforest ants. Compared to above-ground baits, 10–28% of the species at subterranean baits were overall more common (or unique to) below ground, indicating a fauna that was truly specialised to this stratum. Species turnover was particularly high in the primary forests, both concerning above-ground and subterranean baits and between grid points within a site. This suggests that secondary forests are more impoverished, especially concerning their subterranean fauna. Although subterranean ants rarely displayed specific preferences for a bait type, they were in general more specialised than above-ground ants; this was true for entire communities, but also for the same species if they foraged in both strata. Citation: Houadria, M.; Menzel, F. -
Pseudomyrmex Gracilis and Monomorium Floricola (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Collected in Mississippi
Midsouth Entomologist 3: 106–109 ISSN: 1936-6019 www.midsouthentomologist.org.msstate.edu Report Two New Exotic Pest Ants, Pseudomyrmex gracilis and Monomorium floricola (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Collected in Mississippi MacGown, J. A.* and J. G. Hill Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 39762 *Corresponding Author: [email protected] Received: 26-VII-2010 Accepted: 28-VII-2010 Here we report collections of two new exotic pest ants, Pseudomyrmex gracilis (F) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Pseudomyrmicinae) and Monomorium floricola (Jerdon) (Myrmicinae), from Mississippi. We collected specimens of these two species on Sabal palm (Sabal sp., Arecaceae) on 20 May 2010 at an outdoor nursery specializing in palm trees in Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi (30°23'47"N 89°05'33W). Both species of ants were collected on the same individual tree, which was planted directly in the soil. Several workers of Monomorium were observed and collected, but only one worker of the Pseudomyrmex was collected. No colonies of either species were discovered, but our reluctance to damage the palm by searching for colonies prevented a more thorough search. Palms at this nursery were imported from Florida, and it is therefore possible that the ants were inadvertently introduced with the plants, as both of these species are known to occur in Florida (Deyrup et al. 2000). The Mexican twig or elongate twig ant, P. gracilis (Figure 1) has a widespread distribution from Argentina and Brazil to southern Texas and the Caribbean (Ward 1993, Wetterer and Wetterer 2003). This species is exotic elsewhere in the United States, only being reported from Florida, Hawaii, and Louisiana. -
The Coexistence
Myrmecological News 13 19-27 2009, Online Earlier Worldwide spread of the flower ant, Monomorium floricola (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) James K. WETTERER Abstract The flower ant, Monomorium floricola (JERDON, 1851), is one of the most widely distributed ants of the tropics and subtropics. Occasionally, it is also found in temperate areas in greenhouses and other heated buildings. To evaluate the worldwide spread of M. floricola, I compiled published and unpublished specimen records from > 1100 sites. I docu- mented the earliest known M. floricola records for 119 geographic areas (countries, island groups, major Caribbean is- lands, US states, and Canadian provinces), including many locales for which I found no previously published records: Alaska, Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Bermuda, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Congo, Curaçao, Dominica, Nevis, New Zealand, Phoenix Islands, Quebec, St Kitts, St Martin, and Washington DC. Most records of M. floricola from latitudes above 30°, and all records above 35°, appear to come from inside greenhouses or other heated buildings. Although widespread, M. floricola is rarely considered a serious pest. However, because this species is very small, slow moving, cryptically colored, and primarily arboreal, I believe that it is probably often overlooked and its abundance and ecological importance is underappreciated. Monomorium floricola may be particularly significant in flooded man- grove habitats, where competition with non-arboreal ants is much reduced. Key words: Arboreal, biological invasion, exotic species, invasive species, mangrove. Myrmecol. News 13: 19-27 (online xxx 2008) ISSN 1994-4136 (print), ISSN 1997-3500 (online) Received 16 April 2009; revision received 14 September 2009; accepted 16 September 2009 Prof. -
The Functions and Evolution of Social Fluid Exchange in Ant Colonies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Marie-Pierre Meurville & Adria C
ISSN 1997-3500 Myrmecological News myrmecologicalnews.org Myrmecol. News 31: 1-30 doi: 10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:001 13 January 2021 Review Article Trophallaxis: the functions and evolution of social fluid exchange in ant colonies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Marie-Pierre Meurville & Adria C. LeBoeuf Abstract Trophallaxis is a complex social fluid exchange emblematic of social insects and of ants in particular. Trophallaxis behaviors are present in approximately half of all ant genera, distributed over 11 subfamilies. Across biological life, intra- and inter-species exchanged fluids tend to occur in only the most fitness-relevant behavioral contexts, typically transmitting endogenously produced molecules adapted to exert influence on the receiver’s physiology or behavior. Despite this, many aspects of trophallaxis remain poorly understood, such as the prevalence of the different forms of trophallaxis, the components transmitted, their roles in colony physiology and how these behaviors have evolved. With this review, we define the forms of trophallaxis observed in ants and bring together current knowledge on the mechanics of trophallaxis, the contents of the fluids transmitted, the contexts in which trophallaxis occurs and the roles these behaviors play in colony life. We identify six contexts where trophallaxis occurs: nourishment, short- and long-term decision making, immune defense, social maintenance, aggression, and inoculation and maintenance of the gut microbiota. Though many ideas have been put forth on the evolution of trophallaxis, our analyses support the idea that stomodeal trophallaxis has become a fixed aspect of colony life primarily in species that drink liquid food and, further, that the adoption of this behavior was key for some lineages in establishing ecological dominance. -
First Confirmed Record of the Ant Genus Myrmecina (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Malay Peninsula: Description of a New Sp
JHR 50: 129–140First (2016) confirmed record of the ant genusMyrmecina (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)... 129 doi: 10.3897/JHR.50.8652 RESEARCH ARTICLE http://jhr.pensoft.net First confirmed record of the ant genus Myrmecina (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Malay Peninsula: description of a new species and a key to Myrmecina species from Sundaland Mark K. L. Wong1, Benoit Guénard2 1 National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore 2 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Corresponding author: Benoit Guénard ([email protected]) Academic editor: Michael Ohl | Received 29 March 2016 | Accepted 20 April 2016 | Published 27 June 2016 http://zoobank.org/8B72E213-BFDC-4334-AD6E-C2ED1067C231 Citation: Wong MKL, Guénard B (2016) First confirmed record of the ant genus Myrmecina (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Malay Peninsula: description of a new species and a key to Myrmecina species from Sundaland. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 50: 129–140. doi: 10.3897/JHR.50.8652 Abstract We present the first confirmed record of the little known and uncommon ant genusMyrmecina for the Malay Peninsula. Myrmecina magnificenssp. n., a new species displaying unique anteriorly pointing pro- podeal spines, is described from specimens of the worker caste collected in a selectively logged primary rainforest in Singapore. We also provide the first key to Myrmecina species of the Sundaland region. Keywords Myrmecina, Southeast Asia, Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Leaf litter Copyright Mark K.L. Wong, Benoit Guénard. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. -
1 KEY to the DESERT ANTS of CALIFORNIA. James Des Lauriers
KEY TO THE DESERT ANTS OF CALIFORNIA. James des Lauriers Dept Biology, Chaffey College, Alta Loma, CA [email protected] 15 Apr 2011 Snelling and George (1979) surveyed the Mojave and Colorado Deserts including the southern ends of the Owen’s Valley and Death Valley. They excluded the Pinyon/Juniper woodlands and higher elevation plant communities. I have included the same geographical region but also the ants that occur at higher elevations in the desert mountains including the Chuckwalla, Granites, Providence, New York and Clark ranges. Snelling, R and C. George, 1979. The Taxonomy, Distribution and Ecology of California Desert Ants. Report to Calif. Desert Plan Program. Bureau of Land Mgmt. Their keys are substantially modified in the light of more recent literature. Some of the keys include species whose ranges are not known to extend into the deserts. Names of species known to occur in the Mojave or Colorado deserts are colored red. I would appreciate being informed if you find errors or can suggest changes or additions. Key to the Subfamilies. WORKERS AND FEMALES. 1a. Petiole two-segmented. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2 b. Petiole one-segmented. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………..4 2a. Frontal carinae narrow, not expanded laterally, antennal sockets fully exposed in frontal view. ……………………………….3 b. Frontal carinae expanded laterally, antennal sockets partially or fully covered in frontal view. …………… Myrmicinae, p 4 3a. Eye very large and covering much of side of head, consisting of hundreds of ommatidia; thorax of female with flight sclerites. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. Pseudomyrmecinae, p 2 b. Eye absent or vestigial and consist of a single ommatidium; thorax of female without flight sclerites. -
Symbiotic Adaptations in the Fungal Cultivar of Leaf-Cutting Ants
ARTICLE Received 15 Apr 2014 | Accepted 24 Oct 2014 | Published 1 Dec 2014 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6675 Symbiotic adaptations in the fungal cultivar of leaf-cutting ants Henrik H. De Fine Licht1,w, Jacobus J. Boomsma2 & Anders Tunlid1 Centuries of artificial selection have dramatically improved the yield of human agriculture; however, strong directional selection also occurs in natural symbiotic interactions. Fungus- growing attine ants cultivate basidiomycete fungi for food. One cultivar lineage has evolved inflated hyphal tips (gongylidia) that grow in bundles called staphylae, to specifically feed the ants. Here we show extensive regulation and molecular signals of adaptive evolution in gene trancripts associated with gongylidia biosynthesis, morphogenesis and enzymatic plant cell wall degradation in the leaf-cutting ant cultivar Leucoagaricus gongylophorus. Comparative analysis of staphylae growth morphology and transcriptome-wide expressional and nucleotide divergence indicate that gongylidia provide leaf-cutting ants with essential amino acids and plant-degrading enzymes, and that they may have done so for 20–25 million years without much evolutionary change. These molecular traits and signatures of selection imply that staphylae are highly advanced coevolutionary organs that play pivotal roles in the mutualism between leaf-cutting ants and their fungal cultivars. 1 Microbial Ecology Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Ecology Building, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden. 2 Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. w Present Address: Section for Organismal Biology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to H.H.D.F.L. -
Ecological Partitioning and Invasive Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Tropical Rain Forest Ant Community from Fiji1
Ecological Partitioning and Invasive Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Tropical Rain Forest Ant Community from Fiji1 Darren Ward2 Abstract: Determining composition and structure of ant communities may help understand how niche opportunities become available for invasive ant species and ultimately how communities are invaded. This study examined composition and structure of an ant community from a tropical rain forest in Fiji, specifically looking at spatial partitioning and presence of invasive ant species. A total of 27 species was collected, including five invasive species. Spatial partitioning be- tween arboreal (foliage beating) and litter (quadrat) samples was evident with a relatively low species overlap and a different composition of ant genera. Com- position and abundance of ants was also significantly different between litter and arboreal microhabitats at baits, but not at different bait types (oil, sugar, tuna). In terms of invasive ant species, there was no difference in number of invasive species between canopy and litter. However, the most common species, Paratre- china vaga, was significantly less abundant and less frequently collected in the canopy. In arboreal samples, invasive species were significantly smaller than en- demic species, which may have provided an opportunity for invasive species to become established. However, taxonomic disharmony (missing elements in the fauna) could also play an important role in success of invasive ant species across the Pacific region. Invasive ants represent a serious threat to biodiversity in Fiji and on many other Pacific islands. A greater understanding of habitat suscepti- bility and mechanisms for invasion may help mitigate their impacts. Explaining and predicting the success of 1999, Holway et al. -
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. -
Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Along an Elevational Gradient at Eungella in the Clarke Range, Central Queensland Coast, Australia
RAINFOREST ANTS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) ALONG AN ELEVATIONAL GRADIENT AT EUNGELLA IN THE CLARKE RANGE, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND COAST, AUSTRALIA BURWELL, C. J.1,2 & NAKAMURA, A.1,3 Here we provide a faunistic overview of the rainforest ant fauna of the Eungella region, located in the southern part of the Clarke Range in the Central Queensland Coast, Australia, based on systematic surveys spanning an elevational gradient from 200 to 1200 m asl. Ants were collected from a total of 34 sites located within bands of elevation of approximately 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 m asl. Surveys were conducted in March 2013 (20 sites), November 2013 and March–April 2014 (24 sites each), and ants were sampled using five methods: pitfall traps, leaf litter extracts, Malaise traps, spray- ing tree trunks with pyrethroid insecticide, and timed bouts of hand collecting during the day. In total we recorded 142 ant species (described species and morphospecies) from our systematic sampling and observed an additional species, the green tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina, at the lowest eleva- tions but not on our survey sites. With the caveat of less sampling intensity at the lowest and highest elevations, species richness peaked at 600 m asl (89 species), declined monotonically with increasing and decreasing elevation, and was lowest at 1200 m asl (33 spp.). Ant species composition progres- sively changed with increasing elevation, but there appeared to be two gradients of change, one from 200–600 m asl and another from 800 to 1200 m asl. Differences between the lowland and upland faunas may be driven in part by a greater representation of tropical and arboreal-nesting sp ecies in the lowlands and a greater representation of subtropical species in the highlands. -
Nutrition Mediates the Expression of Cultivar–Farmer Conflict in a Fungus-Growing Ant
Nutrition mediates the expression of cultivar–farmer conflict in a fungus-growing ant Jonathan Z. Shika,b,1, Ernesto B. Gomezb, Pepijn W. Kooija,c, Juan C. Santosd, William T. Wcislob, and Jacobus J. Boomsmaa aCentre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; bSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama; cJodrell Laboratory, Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3DS, United Kingdom; and dDepartment of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602 Edited by Bert Hölldobler, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, and approved July 8, 2016 (received for review April 16, 2016) Attine ants evolved farming 55–60 My before humans. Although whose sexual fruiting bodies represent considerable investments. evolutionarily derived leafcutter ants achieved industrial-scale farm- An illustrative example is offered by the fungus-growing attine ing, extant species from basal attine genera continue to farm loosely ants, whose dispersing queens transmit symbionts vertically and domesticated fungal cultivars capable of pursuing independent re- whose farming workers therefore actively suppress wasteful for- productive interests. We used feeding experiments with the basal mation of inedible mushrooms (16, 17). Another example is pro- attine Mycocepurus smithii to test whether reproductive allocation vided by two independently derived lineages of fungus-growing Termitomyces conflicts between farmers and cultivars