Miscellaneous ants

Chiro Nuri Qadr

Overview

Miscellaneous ants are different kinds of ants which comprise a single family ,the Formicidae within the order hymenoptera.

Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arhtropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Suborder: Apocrita Super family: Vespoidea Family: Formicidae Subfamily:Myrmicinae Tribe: Solenopsidinae Genus: Solenopsis Species: S.invicta

General characteristic of order Hymenoptera

The name came from the Greek words humen and pteron, meaning membrane and wing.

Holometabolous insects. They have egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. They are one of the five megadiverse insect orders they are cosmopolitan ,but most species occure in tropics they include phytophagous,parasitoid, and predatory taxa, both solitary and highly social species. They range in size from large to very tiny ones. They have to pair of membraneous wings.fore wings are larger than hind

wings. The ovipositor is used not only for laying eggs, it is also used to pass

venom and/or other secretions to the place of oviposition. all have a haplodiploid sex determination system. Prothorax is reduced in size forming a narrow band between the head

and mesothorax.

HONEY BEE

WASPS

ANTS

Characteristics of family Formicidae all ants are eusocial,except a few species which secondarily lost thier

worker caste. Ants have diverse systems of communication, but by far the most

important medium for signaling involves the chemicals known as pheromones.

the nest is covered with nopal, dried grass, and fresh weeds to maintain an environment suitable for survival and regrowth of the colony

Polymorphism in ants is accompanied by polyethism Winged individuals are called alates Workers are called repletes, store the honey in the abdomen Not all ants are predatory. Some ants harvest grain and seeds and others

feed on insect-produced honeydew. Antennae is geniculate. Chewing mouthpart.

Desert ant

Weaver ants

Family Formicidae

Leaf_cutter ants

Red ants

Fire ants

Red imported fire ant Reddish brown ants are well known for their

aggressiveness and stings that are used for defence. They have alkaloidal venoms that produce a burning

sensation. Nests are polygyne (multiple queen) Insect venoms are effective specialized allomones

typically consisting of watersoluble proteins and other components that are injected into the body of an assailant.

Honeydew accounts as a sole food for them.

Antennae

Mouth part

Head Electron micrograph of head

Egg

Eggs are white. They are either fertilized or unfertilized. Fertilized eggs produce potential queens and

workers Unfertilized eggs produce male..

Eggs

Larvae

The larval stage is composed of four instar. Is apodous and resemble maggot. Only the fourth instar can digest solids directly,

and it is the only path for processing of solid food particles in the colony

The head is only weakly sclerotized or much reduced .

LarvaeElectron micrograph

Pupae

Pupae are adecticous and exarate without coccon.

Pupae

Adult:

Adult of fire ants have two castes: -Reproductive caste -Worker caste

Reproductive caste :

They are winged and fertile. Consist of both sexes ;male and female (queen).

Male :

Males are haploid. having only a single set of chromosomes. Males produce genetically homogeneous sperm.

Winged male

Female (queen):

Queen is diploid. They can lay both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. They loose their wings after mating. They are about 7 mm long in size.

Winged

female(Queen)

Workers caste:

The workers range in size from small to large from about 2–5 mm in length.

Fire ant workers can feed only on liquids: they have filters in their digestive tract that prevent the ingestion of solids.

have reduced ovaries and are irreversibly sterile. There are two main worker castes, ‘nurses’ and

‘foragers’ whose members span a wide age-size range.

Workers have sting appartus for defence.

Sting apparatus

Life cycle:

They have complete metamorphoses.

Importance

Economically: important pests as seed distributors and as seed

harvesters, in the turnover of soils, and in the regulation of aphid numbers and the minimization of outbreaks of defoliating insects.

One oddity about fire ants is their evident attraction to electrical fields. They frequently enter electrical boxes such as outside air conditioners, traffic boxes, and lights, where they chew wires and short out the circuits.

Fire ants contract their muscles, which makes the raft temporarily less buoyant but traps air better, preventing drowning.

They gather up all the eggs in the colony and will make their way up through the underground network of tunnels, and when the flood waters rise above the ground, they'll link up together in these massive rafts.

Distribution:Extremely common and cosmopolitan. Habitat: They build their nests in mounds of soil

outdoors, in landscape areas.

References: Books : Resh, Vincent H. and Carde, Ring T. (2003). Encycloprdia of Insects. 1st

ed. Elsevier Science.(USA). 20, 29, 31, 165, 242, 293, 415, 416, 436, 534, 535, 536, 540, 541 pp.

Gullan, P.J. and Cranston, P.S. (2005). The Insects.3rd ed. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. USA. 17, 312, 312 pp.

Gillott, Cedric .(2005). Entomology. 3rd ed. Springer. Netherlands. 332. Research articles: John T. Mirenda and S. Bradleigh Vinson.(May 1981). Division of

labour and specification of castes in the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta buren. Animal Behaviour, 29(2):410-420

Website : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/pictures/

110425-fire-ants-life-rafts-swarms-science-proceedings/?source=link_fb20110425fireantrafts#/fire-ants-form-life-rafts-edge.

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