Myrmecophilus pergandei

Last updated

Myrmecophilus pergandei
Myrmecophilus pergandei.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Myrmecophilidae
Genus: Myrmecophilus
Species:
M. pergandei
Binomial name
Myrmecophilus pergandei
Bruner, 1884

Myrmecophilus pergandei, the eastern ant cricket, is a species of ant cricket in the family Myrmecophilidae. It is found in North America. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is a wingless cricket that is an obligate kleptoparasite of ants living in their nests. They lack both wings and tympanal organs on the front tibia.

Contents

Distribution

They have been found in the United States, in the following states: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Ant hosts

M. pergandei has been observed with the following ants: Lasius umbratus, Camponotus castaneus, Camponotus chromaiodes, Camponotus herculeanus, Camponotus novaeboracensis, Formica obscuriventris, Formica pallidefulva, Formica subsericea, Aphaenogaster treatae, Crematogaster lineolata , and Tapinoma sessile . [5]

Biology

Ant crickets lives as an inquiline within ants' nests. M. pergandei is known to live with eleven ant species. This specialized way of life has led this insect and its relatives to evolve many morphological differences compared to other orthopterans, including complete absence of wings and hearing organs , and much reduced eyesight, as well as their very small size. These tiny insects are dark brown with paler bands and prominent cerci, which serve as their primary sensory organs. Adults are found throughout the year, and take up to two years to reach maturity. [6]

Description

The general form of the insect, when looking at it from above, is oval, with the smallest part being at the head. The latter is depressed and deeply sunken into the front margin of the pronotum. The basal joint of the antennae is very large and globular, with a few short bristle-like hairs encircling the insertion of the second joint. The remaining joints gradually decrease in size toward the apex. The antennae are as long as the body, with the base being pale yellowish and the remaining portion rufous. The eyes are small and black, composed of a group of ocelli-like cells. They are situated immediately behind the base of the antenna, and in dried specimens, they are partly concealed by the front margin of the pronotum. The anterior legs are small and slightly compressed, and they are unarmed. The posterior femora are greatly enlarged, compressed, ovate incrassate, while the tibiae are stout, slightly compressed, shorter than the femora, and furnished with four movable spines on the inner and two on the outer edge. The apex has four long spurs, and the tarsi are plain. The cerci are stout, acuminate, slightly thickest in the middle, quite hairy, and as long as the abdomen. They are a trifle heaviest in the male. The ovipositor is slender and larger than usual, with the valves of equal lengths.

The insect has a big and wide pronotum that is narrow in front and wide at the back. Its edges are straight. The meso- and meta-notum segments are the same size and much bigger than the first abdominal segment. It is mainly ochraceous and piceous in color, except for the front margin of the pronotum, hind margins of the thoracic and abdominal segments, and the apex of the ovipositor which are dark brown. A special feature of this species is the two light-colored elliptical markings on the pronotum disc. They are 3.85 mm in length. [7] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplura</span> Order of two-pronged bristletails

The order Diplura is one of three orders of non-insect hexapods within the class Entognatha. The name "diplura", or "two tails", refers to the characteristic pair of caudal appendages or filaments at the terminal end of the body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cercus</span> Paired appendages on the rear-most segments of many arthropods

Cerci are paired appendages on the rear-most segments of many arthropods, including insects and symphylans. Many forms of cerci serve as sensory organs, but some serve as pinching weapons or as organs of copulation. In many insects, they simply may be functionless vestigial structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensifera</span> Suborder of cricket-like animals

Ensifera is a suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies including: true crickets, camel crickets, bush crickets or katydids, grigs, weta and Cooloola monsters. This and the suborder Caelifera make up the order Orthoptera. Ensifera is believed to be a more ancient group than Caelifera, with its origins in the Carboniferous period, the split having occurred at the end of the Permian period. Unlike the Caelifera, the Ensifera contain numerous members that are partially carnivorous, feeding on other insects, as well as plants.

<i>Parcoblatta fulvescens</i> Species of cockroach

Parcoblatta fulvescens, the fulvous wood cockroach, is a species of cockroach endemic to the United States and possibly Canada that measures around 13 mm (0.5 in) long.

<i>Myrmecophilus</i> Genus of cricket-like animals

Myrmecophilus or ant crickets, is a genus of orthopteran insects in the family Myrmecophilidae. This genus contains the majority of myrmecophilous (ant-loving) species in this small, obscure family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeognatha</span> Order of jumping bristletails

The Archaeognatha are an order of apterygotes, known by various common names such as jumping bristletails. Among extant insect taxa they are some of the most evolutionarily primitive; they appeared in the Middle Devonian period at about the same time as the arachnids. Specimens that closely resemble extant species have been found as both body and trace fossils in strata from the remainder of the Paleozoic Era and more recent periods. For historical reasons an alternative name for the order is Microcoryphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of entomology terms</span> List of definitions of terms and concepts commonly used in the study of entomology

This glossary of entomology describes terms used in the formal study of insect species by entomologists.

<i>Idolomantis</i> Genus of praying mantises

Idolomantis is a genus of praying mantises in the family Empusidae. It is represented by a single species, Idolomantis diabolica, commonly known as the devil's flower mantis or giant devil's flower mantis. It is one of the largest species of praying mantises, and is possibly the largest that mimics flowers

<i>Eupholidoptera chabrieri</i> Species of cricket-like animal

Eupholidoptera chabrieri is a species of katydid belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae.

<i>Yersinella raymondi</i> Species of cricket-like animal

Yersinella raymondi, common name Raymond's Bush-cricket, is a species of "katydids crickets" belonging to the family Tettigoniidae subfamily Tettigoniinae. The scientific name Yersinella comes from the name of the entomologist who has described the species in 1860.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tridactylidae</span> Family of [[Caelifera]]

The Tridactylidae are a family in the insect order Orthoptera. They are small, mole-cricket-like insects, almost always less than 20 mm (0.79 in) long when mature. Generally they are shiny, dark or black, sometimes variegated or sandy-coloured. They commonly live in short tunnels and are commonly known as pygmy mole crickets, though they are not closely related to the true "mole crickets" (Ensifera), as they are included in the Caelifera suborder.

<i>Zigrasimecia</i> Extinct genus of ants

Zigrasimecia is an extinct genus of ants which existed in the Cretaceous period approximately 98 million years ago. The first specimens were collected from Burmese amber in Kachin State, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Myitkyina town in Myanmar. In 2013, palaeoentomologists Phillip Barden and David Grimaldi published a paper describing and naming Zigrasimecia tonsora. They described a dealate female with unusual features, notably the highly specialized mandibles. Other features include large ocelli, short scapes, 12 antennomeres, small eyes, and a clypeal margin that has a row of peg-like denticles. The genus Zigrasimecia was originally incertae sedis within Formicidae until a second species, Zigrasimecia ferox, was described in 2014, leading to its placement in the subfamily Sphecomyrminae. Later, it was considered to belong to the distinct subfamily Zigrasimeciinae.

<i>Antaxius pedestris</i> Species of cricket-like animal

Antaxius pedestris is a species of "bush crickets" belonging to the family Tettigoniidae. It was originally described by Johan Christian Fabricius under the scientific name of Locusta pedestris.

<i>Grylloblatta campodeiformis</i> Species of insect

Grylloblatta campodeiformis, also known as the northern rock crawler, is an omnivorous species of insect in family Grylloblattidae. Like other species in the genus Grylloblatta, it is endemic to North America.

<i>Yantaromyrmex</i> Genus of ants

Yantaromyrmex is an extinct genus of ants first described in 2013. Members of this genus are in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae, known from Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene fossils found in Europe. The genus currently contains five described species, Y. constrictus, Y. geinitzi, Y. intermedius, Y. mayrianum and Y. samlandicus. The first specimens were collected in 1868 and studied by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr, who originally placed the fossils in other ant genera until the fossils were reviewed and subsequently placed into their own genus. These ants are small, measuring from 4 to 6 mm in length and can be characterized by their trapezoidal shaped head-capsules and oval compound eyes that are located slightly to the rear of the capsules midpoint, with no known ocelli present.

<i>Camponotus herculeanus</i> Species of ant known as the Hercules ant

Camponotus herculeanus is a species of ant in the genus Camponotus, the carpenter ants, occurring in Northern Eurasia, from Norway to Eastern Siberia, and North America. First described as Formica herculeana by Linnaeus in 1758, the species was moved to Camponotus by Mayr in 1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grylloidea</span> Superfamily of cricket-like animals

Grylloidea is the superfamily of insects, in the order Orthoptera, known as crickets. It includes the "true crickets", scaly crickets, wood crickets and other families, some only known from fossils.

Bucolus fourneti is a native Australian, small, hairy coccinellid beetle approximately 2.1-4.5 mm in diameter. It was described by Étienne Mulsant in 1850

<i>Microdon megalogaster</i> Species of fly

Microdon megalogaster, the Black-bodied Ant Fly, is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. It is found in North-eastern North America. Te larvae have been found in the nests of Formica subsericea the black field ant Say, and Formica fusca the silky ant Linnaeus

<i>Tisamenus ranarius</i> Species of stick insect

Tisamenus ranarius is a stick insect species (Phasmatodea), in the family of the Heteropterygidae native to the Philippines.

References

  1. ↑ "Myrmecophilus pergandei Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Myrmecophilus pergandei". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  3. ↑ Otte, Daniel; Cigliano, Maria Marta; Braun, Holger; Eades, David C. (2019). "species Myrmecophilus pergandei Bruner, 1884". Orthoptera species file online, Version 5.0. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  4. 1 2 "Myrmecophilus pergandei information page". AntWiki: The Ants --- Online. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  5. ↑ Hebard, Morgan . (1920). "A Revision of the North American Species of the Genus Myrmecophila (Orthoptera; Gryllidae; Myrmecophilinae)". Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 46: 91.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  6. ↑ Bruner, L. (1884). "Two new Myrmecophilae from the United States". The Canadian Entomologist. 16: 41–43.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.