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Mermithergate
A mermithergate is an ant worker that has a changed appearance as a result of an Enoplia nematode infection. Etymology The word was coined by William M. Wheeler in 1910. It is a combination of the nematode genus ''Mermis'', for which Wheeler first described the phenomenon, and ergate, which means ant worker. Infected females (queens) are called mermithogynes. Infection cycle Up to 5% of some populations of ''Cephalotes atratus'' suffer from an infection by the tetradonematid nematode ''Myrmeconema neotropicum''. It causes the ant's abdomen to turn from black to bright red, strikingly resembling a red berry. In addition, the ant then holds it up most of the time, and it is easily ripped off. Birds easily mistake these for real fruit and pick them, while they avoid eating normal ants. The nematodes pass through the bird's digestive system as eggs without harming it. The circle closes when ''C. atratus'' workers feed on the bird droppings, thus getting infected.University of Cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mermithogyne
Usually characterised by shortened wings, mermithogynes are found in parts of the Formicidae, being queens affected by parasitic nematode worms of the genus ''Mermis''. See also * Mermithergate *Polymorphism (biology) In biology, polymorphism is the occurrence of two or more clearly different morphs or forms, also referred to as alternative ''phenotypes'', in the population of a species. To be classified as such, morphs must occupy the same habitat at the s ... Further reading * (1910): The effects of parasitic and other kinds of castration in insects. ''Journal of Experimental Zoology'' 8: 377–438PDF Myrmecology {{ant-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honeypot Ant
Honeypot ants, also called honey ants, are ants which have specialised workers (repletes, plerergates, or rotunds) that are gorged with food to the point that their abdomens swell enormously. Other ants then extract nourishment from them, through the process of trophallaxis. They function as living larders. Honeypot ants belong to any of several genera, including ''Myrmecocystus'' and '' Camponotus''. They were first documented in 1881 by Henry C. McCook, and described further in 1908 by William Morton Wheeler. Behaviour Many insects, notably honey bees and some wasps, collect and store liquid for use at a later date. However, these insects store their food within their nest or in combs. Honey ants are unique in using their own bodies as living storage, used later by their fellow ants when food is otherwise scarce. When the liquid stored inside a honeypot ant is needed, the worker ants stroke the antennae of the honeypot ant, causing the honeypot ant to regurgitate the stored liq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamergate (ant)
A gamergate ( ) is a mated worker ant that can reproduce sexually, i.e., lay fertilized eggs that will develop as females. In the vast majority of ant species, workers are sterile and gamergates are restricted to taxa where the workers have a functional sperm reservoir ('spermatheca'). In some species, gamergates reproduce in addition to winged queens (usually upon the death of the original foundress), while in other species the queen caste has been completely replaced by gamergates. In gamergate species, all workers in a colony have similar reproductive potentials, but as a result of physical interactions, a dominance hierarchy is formed and only one or a few top-ranking workers can mate (usually with foreign males) and produce eggs. Subsequently however, aggression is no longer needed as gamergates secrete chemical signals that inform the other workers of their reproductive status in the colony. Depending on the species, there can be one gamergate per colony (monogyny) or seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cephalotes Atratus
''Cephalotes atratus'' is a species of arboreal ant in the genus ''Cephalotes'', a genus characterized by its odd shaped head. These ants are known as gliding ants because of their ability to "parachute" by steering their fall if they lose their footing. Names It is called kaka-sikikoko in the Kwaza language of Rondônia, Brazil.Manso, Laura Vicuña Pereira. 2013. Dicionário da língua Kwazá'. M.A. dissertation. Guajará-Mirim: Federal University of Rondônia. Description ''Cephalotes atratus'' is a large, mainly black ant; workers are in length and females . Males are up to and have black heads and thoraxes, and dark reddish-brown gasters and limbs. The workers are spiny and heavily armoured with powerful mandibles for chewing through wood. Distribution This ant occurs in lowland tropical rainforests in South America where its range extends from Panama and Venezuela to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is a common arboreal species and colonies are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasitism
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as Armillaria mellea, honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the Orobanchaceae, broomrapes. There are six major parasitic Behavioral ecology#Evolutionarily stable strategy, strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), wikt:trophic, trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), Disease vector, vector-transmitted paras ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdomen
The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal cavity. In arthropods it is the posterior (anatomy), posterior tagma (biology), tagma of the body; it follows the thorax or cephalothorax. In humans, the abdomen stretches from the thorax at the thoracic diaphragm to the pelvis at the pelvic brim. The pelvic brim stretches from the lumbosacral joint (the intervertebral disc between Lumbar vertebrae, L5 and Vertebra#Sacrum, S1) to the pubic symphysis and is the edge of the pelvic inlet. The space above this inlet and under the thoracic diaphragm is termed the abdominal cavity. The boundary of the abdominal cavity is the abdominal wall in the front and the peritoneal surface at the rear. In vertebrates, the abdomen is a large body c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmeconema Neotropicum
''Myrmeconema neotropicum'' is a tetradonematid nematode parasite. It appears to induce fruit mimicry in the tropical ant. Presently the only known host species is ''Cephalotes atratus'', a South American ant with a black abdomen. Upon infection, the gaster, or bulbous hindmost region of the abdomen, resembles one of the many red berries found in tropical forest canopies. Life cycle ''Myrmeconema neotropicum's'' life cycle begins when a bird eats the infected ant. Upon passing through the bird's digestive system the eggs are defecated out. The eggs are then picked up by the ants and fed to their larvae. Once inside the immature ant gut the eggs migrate to the gaster where they will fully mature. Once the ant larvae pupate the mature nematodes begin to reproduce inside of the gaster. The males expire soon after mating but the females hold the eggs within themselves. Once the ant develops into a young adult the gaster begins to become translucent, thus allowing the red embryo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetradonematidae
Tetradonematidae is a family of nematodes, most being endoparasites of arthropods. A species discovered in 2008 was found to alter the morphology of its ant host, apparently so as to make the ant resemble fruits leading to their predation by birds. The ants forage on bird droppings and are infected by the nematodes. Some species infect the invasive ant ''Solenopsis invicta'' making them of interest in applied biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo .... References Enoplea Nematode families Parasites of arthropods {{Chromadorea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pheidole
''Pheidole'' is a genus of ants that belongs to the ant subfamily Myrmicinae. The genus is widespread and ecologically dominant. It probably includes more than 1000 species. The genus first evolved in the Americas, eventually spreading across the globe. Colony structure Most species of ''Pheidole'' are dimorphic, which means that colonies contain two castes of workers, the "minor" workers, and the "major" workers, or "soldiers". The latter generally have much larger heads and mandibles in comparison to their usually fairly modest body size. In addition, as in other ant species, a colony may contain one or several queens, and also in mature colonies, alates - virgin winged females and males. Pheidole_xerophila-major_minors.jpg, major and minor workers of ''P. xerophila'' Major workers The distinctive major workers have earned the genus ''Pheidole'' the nickname of "big-headed ants". The major workers of a ''Pheidole'' colony, while they may look fierce, are often quite sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psyche (entomological Journal)
''Psyche'' is a scientific journal of entomology which was established in 1874 by the Cambridge Entomological Club as a "journal for the publication of biological contributions upon Arthropoda from any competent person". The name of the journal is derived from the Ancient Greek word for butterfly. The journal has been published since 1874 (with gaps from 1886 to 1887, 1995 to 1999, and 2000 to 2007). In 2007 the Club transferred the journal to the Hindawi Publishing Corporation, and it became an open-access journal in 2008, with articles distributed online under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Almost all back issues were scanned and are available online as PDF files. History Samuel Hubbard Scudder proposed to start an "Organ of the Cambridge Entomological Club" at its fourth meeting. When ''Psyche'' began publication, its first editor was B. P. Mann. Its articles concentrated on general anatomy, biological entomology, and to set up a Bibliographic Record of all writin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ergate
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their geniculate (elbowed) antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists. Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies that may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals. Larger colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" and one or more fertile females called "queens" (gynes). The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants appea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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