| Dolichoderus mariae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dolichoderus mariae worker | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dolichoderinae |
| Genus: | Dolichoderus |
| Species: | D. mariae |
| Binomial name | |
| Dolichoderus mariae Forel, 1885 | |
Dolichoderus mariae is a species of ant in the subfamily Dolichoderinae and is found in North America.
This ant is distinctively coloured with the head, antennae, thorax, legs and petiole and the anterior part of the first abdominal segment reddish or ochre-brown. The remainder of the abdomen is black or deep brown. The integument is smooth and reflective, though fine sculpturing granules can be seen under magnification. The propodeum is longer than it is wide. Posteriorly, the propodeum is concave with some fine vertical striations. The head and body are hairless. [1]
This ant has a wide range which includes Illinois, Minnesota and Oklahoma, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and northern Florida. [2] The type locality is Vineland, New Jersey. [3] It is common in some areas such as North and South Carolina, but rare in others and in the southern part of its range it can be confused with the similar species, Dolichoderus pustulatus . [1]
This ant is found in prairies, glades and fens. It nests underground among plant roots. [4]
A study of this species was undertaken in northern Florida. It was found that the worker ants remove soil from under clumps of wiregrass, other grasses or other fibrous rooted plants such as blackberry (Rubus spp.) or cattails (Typha spp.). The nest is a single, large conical chamber, which is open to the air round the base of the plant. Colonies make a number of these nests which are linked by trails across the ground along which ants move from one to another. There are many queens per nest. Over the winter there are just one or two nests in a colony but as summer advances, more and more chambers are excavated and there may be as many as sixty nests by late summer. After this the number starts to contract again. [2] The colonies occupy roughly the same area each summer and territorial aggression has been noted between adjoining colonies. Within their territory, the ants tend and milk aphids and scale insects for their honeydew and also scavenge for dead insects. The size of the colony and the number of nests seemed to depend on the number of hemipterans in the territorial area. When these are abundant during the winter, the colony does not contract to such a great extent as when the season is harsh. [2]
Observations inside nests showed that the workers, queen, alates and brood took up stations on the fibrous roots which formed a sort of scaffolding in their nests. The size of the nest varied with the size of the root system of the plant above. During the summer, above some of the nests, workers chewed bits of plant material to produce a papery felt or thatch. However, it was not clear why this was done for some nests and not others. During the winter, the average nest housed about 75,000 workers and 12 to 59 queens. In the summer, the number of workers ranged from 13,000 to 19,000 while there were about 180 queens per nest. [2] Alates first appeared in April but the majority were found in July. Nuptial flights took place early in the morning after heavy rains with thousands of male alates taking to the wing in search of other nests or colonies. The female alates mostly remained at their nests of origin where they presumably mated and joined the other queens already present. [2]
During the winter, the abandoned nests provide shelter for vertebrates and invertebrates such as snakes, lizards and ground dwelling spiders. [2]
Yellowjacket or yellow jacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these are black and yellow like the eastern yellowjacket and the aerial yellowjacket ; some are black and white like the bald-faced hornet. Some have an abdomen with a red background color instead of black. They can be identified by their distinctive markings, their occurrence only in colonies, and a characteristic, rapid, side-to-side flight pattern prior to landing. All females are capable of stinging. Yellowjackets are important predators of pest insects.
Solenopsis invicta, the fire ant, or red imported fire ant (RIFA), is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus Solenopsis in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was described by Swiss entomologist Felix Santschi as a variant of S. saevissima in 1916. Its current specific name invicta was given to the ant in 1972 as a separate species. However, the variant and species were the same ant, and the name was preserved due to its wide use. Though South American in origin, the red imported fire ant has been accidentally introduced in Australia, New Zealand, several Asian and Caribbean countries, Europe and the United States. The red imported fire ant is polymorphic, as workers appear in different shapes and sizes. The ant's colours are red and somewhat yellowish with a brown or black gaster, but males are completely black. Red imported fire ants are dominant in altered areas and live in a wide variety of habitats. They can be found in rainforests, disturbed areas, deserts, grasslands, alongside roads and buildings, and in electrical equipment. Colonies form large mounds constructed from soil with no visible entrances because foraging tunnels are built and workers emerge far away from the nest.
The black garden ant, also known as the common black ant, is a formicine ant, the type species of the subgenus Lasius, which is found across Europe and in some parts of North America, South America, Asia and Australasia. The European species was split into two species; L. niger, which are found in open areas; and L. platythorax, which is found in forest habitats. It is monogynous, meaning colonies contain a single queen.
An ant colony is a population of ants, typically from a single species, capable of maintaining their complete lifecycle. Ant colonies are eusocial, communal, and efficiently organized and are very much like those found in other social Hymenoptera, though the various groups of these developed sociality independently through convergent evolution. The typical colony consists of one or more egg-laying queens, numerous sterile females and, seasonally, many winged sexual males and females. In order to establish new colonies, ants undertake flights that occur at species-characteristic times of the day. Swarms of the winged sexuals depart the nest in search of other nests. The males die shortly thereafter, along with most of the females. A small percentage of the females survive to initiate new nests.
Carpenter ants are large ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world.
Iridomyrmex is a genus of ants called rainbow ants first described by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in 1862. He placed the genus in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae. It has 79 described species and five fossil species. Most of these ants are native to Australia; others are found in Asia and Oceania, and they have been introduced to Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates. Fossil species are known from China, France, and the United States.
The meat ant, also known as the gravel ant or southern meat ant, is a species of ant endemic to Australia. A member of the genus Iridomyrmex in the subfamily Dolichoderinae, it was described by British entomologist Frederick Smith in 1858. The meat ant is associated with many common names due to its appearance, nest-building behaviour and abundance, of which its specific name, purpureus, refers to its coloured appearance. It is among the best-known species of ant found throughout Australia; it occurs in almost all states and territories except for Tasmania. Its enormous distribution, aggression and ecological importance have made this ant a dominant species.
Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant, termite, and some bee species. It is also observed in some fly species, such as Rhamphomyia longicauda.
The black carpenter ant is one of the largest and most common species of carpenter ant native to the central and eastern United States as well as eastern Canada.
Nasutitermes corniger is a species of arboreal termite that is endemic to the neotropics. It is very closely related to Nasutitermes ephratae. The species has been studied relatively intensively, particularly on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. These studies and others have shown that the termite interacts with many different organisms including a bat that roosts in its nest and various species of ants that cohabit with the termite.
Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, or the western harvester ant, is a species of ant that inhabits the deserts and arid grasslands of the American West at or below 6,300 feet (1,900 m). Like other harvester ants in the genus Pogonomyrmex, it is so called because of its habit of collecting edible seeds and other food items. The specific epithet "occidentalis", meaning "of the west", refers to the fact that it is characteristic of the interior of the Western United States; its mounds of gravel, surrounded by areas denuded of plant life, are a conspicuous feature of rangeland. When numerous, they may cause such loss of grazing plants and seeds, as to constitute both a severe ecological and economic burden. They have a painful and venomous sting.
Dolichoderus is a genus of ants found worldwide.
Dolichoderus pustulatus is a species of ant in the subfamily Dolichoderinae and is found in North America.
Liometopum apiculatum is a species of ant in the subfamily Dolichoderinae. Liometopum apiculatum ants are found in arid and semi-arid regions of southwestern United States and Mexico to Quintana Roo.
Crematogaster carinata is a species of ant in the tribe Crematogastrini. It was first described by Gustav Mayr in 1862. It is native to Central and South America, where it is a common species, forming large colonies in the canopy of the forest.
Pogonomyrmex badius, or the Florida harvester ant, is a species of harvester ant in the genus Pogonomyrmex. It is the only Pogonomyrmex species found on the east coast of the United States and the only one in North America known to be polymorphic. The Florida Harvester ant is commonly found in Florida scrub and other similar habitats within the Atlantic coastal plain.
Camponotus floridanus, or Florida carpenter ant, is a species of ant in the genus Camponotus. First described as Formica floridana by Buckley in 1866, the species was moved to Camponotus by Mayr in 1886. The ant is widespread in Florida and occurs as far north as North Carolina and as far west as Mississippi.
Camponotus socius, the sandhill carpenter ant, is a large species of ant in the genus Camponotus. It was first described by Julius Roger (1863), based on specimens from Brazil - however these can be considered highly dubious as the location where the type specimens were collected (Amazonas) does not fit the known ecology of the species within North America, where it exhibits traits typical of a native species. It is well adapted to the sandy soils of xeric woodlands found within the coastal plains of the southeastern United States. Its range includes the US states of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North and South Carolina and Mississippi.
This is a glossary of terms used in the descriptions of ants.
Leptothorax muscorum is a species of ant of the genus Leptothorax that ranges through a variety of habitats throughout much of Europe, northern Asia, and North and Central America, with a particularly wide distribution in the palearctic. Capable of surviving in extreme Arctic-Alpine conditions, the species is perhaps the northernmost dwelling ant indigenous to the Western Hemisphere.
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