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''Tetraponera penzigi'', is a
The whistling thorn produces a pair of straight spines at each node, and some of these have grossly swollen, hollow bases which are used by ants as
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of ant
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 ...
of the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae
Pseudomyrmecinae is a small subfamily of ants containing only three genera of slender, large-eyed arboreal ants, predominantly tropical or subtropical in distribution. In the course of adapting to arboreal conditions (unlike the predominantly ...
, which can be found in East Africa. It forms an obligate symbiosis with the whistling thorn acacia (''Vachellia drepanolobium''), a dominant tree in some upland areas of East Africa.
Description
A worker of ''T. penzigi'' is typically in length and is black with light brown appendages.Distribution
''Tetraponera penzigi'' is native to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.Ecology
The whistling thorn produces a pair of straight spines at each node, and some of these have grossly swollen, hollow bases which are used by ants as domatia
A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant.
Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabi ...
. Four species of symbiotic ant use ''V. drepanolobium'' as host; these are ''T. penzigi'' and three different species of ''Crematogaster
''Crematogaster'' is an ecologically diverse genus of ants found worldwide, which are characterised by a distinctive heart-shaped gaster (abdomen), which gives them one of their common names, the Saint Valentine ant. Members of this genus are ...
''. The ants are mutually exclusive, only one species normally occupying a host tree at any one time. ''T. penzigi'' is often the first ant to colonise young trees, being attracted by the nectar provided by extrafloral nectaries that the tree supplies. As the tree grows, ''T. penzigi'' ants tend to be evicted by ''Crematogaster'' ants, which do not feed from the nectaries, and destroy them on trees occupied by ''T. penzigi'', but not on other trees. The tree benefits from the presence of the ants because they are aggressive, streaming out of their domitia when disturbed and attacking grazing animals such as giraffes and rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...
es; having learned this, the mammals are deterred in their grazing activities.
The introduction of the bigheaded ant '' Pheidole megacephala'' in Laikipia County
Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki t ...
, Kenya, has disrupted the mutualism between acacia trees and ants. ''Crematogaster'' ants actively defended the whistling thorn against the bigheaded ants and were all extirpated from the tree. However, ''T. penzigi'' workers, when present, retreated into their domitia and co-existed with the invaders for more than thirty days. The absence of the fierce ''Crematogaster'' ants resulted in the tree being much more likely to be grazed and damaged by elephants.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3912998 Pseudomyrmecinae Hymenoptera of Africa Insects described in 1907