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.
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism — that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they reach adulthood.
Dorylinae is an ant subfamily, with distributions in both the Old World and New World. Brady et al. (2014) synonymized the previous dorylomorph subfamilies under Dorylinae, while Borowiec (2016) reviewed and revised the genera, resurrecting many genera which had previously been merged. Dorylinae genera are suggested to have evolved sometime between 102 to 74 million years ago, subsequently undergoing rapid adaptive radiation events during their early history.
Aenictogiton is a genus of ants, comprising seven rarely collected species. All the species are known only from males found in Central Africa, and show a morphological and phylogenetic affinity to the army ant genus Dorylus. The dorylomorph ants include six subfamilies– Aenictogitoninae, Cerapachyinae, Leptanilloidinae, and the three army ant subfamilies Aenictinae, Dorylinae and Ecitoninae.
The name army ant (or legionary ant or marabunta) is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited area.
Thelytoky is a type of parthenogenesis and is the absence of mating and subsequent production of all female diploid offspring as for example in aphids. Thelytokous parthenogenesis is rare among animals and reported in about 1,500 species, about 1 in 1000 of described animal species, according to a 1984 study. It is more common in invertebrates, like arthropods, but it can occur in vertebrates, including salamanders, fish, and reptiles such as some whiptail lizards.
Arrhenotoky, also known as arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, is a form of parthenogenesis in which unfertilized eggs develop into males. In most cases, parthenogenesis produces exclusively female offspring, hence the distinction.
Eciton burchellii is a species of New World army ant in the genus Eciton. This species performs expansive, organized swarm raids that give it the informal name, Eciton army ant. This species displays a high degree of worker polymorphism. Sterile workers are of four discrete size-castes: minors, medias, porters (sub-majors), and soldiers (majors). Soldiers have much larger heads and specialized mandibles for defense. In lieu of underground excavated nests, colonies of E. burchellii form temporary living nests known as bivouacs, which are composed of hanging live worker bodies and which can be disassembled and relocated during colony emigrations. Eciton burchellii colonies cycle between stationary phases and nomadic phases when the colony emigrates nightly. These alternating phases of emigration frequency are governed by coinciding brood developmental stages. Group foraging efforts known as "raids" are maintained by the use of pheromones, can be 200 metres (660 ft) long, and employ up to 200,000 ants. Workers are also adept at making living structures out of their own bodies to improve efficiency of moving as a group across the forest floor while foraging or emigrating. Workers can fill "potholes" in the foraging trail with their own bodies, and can also form living bridges. Numerous antbirds prey on the Eciton burchellii by using their raids as a source of food. In terms of geographical distribution, this species is found in the Amazon jungle and Central America.
Aenictus is a large army ant genus distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics. It contains about 181 species, making it one of the larger ant genera of the world.
The little fire ant, also known as the electric ant, is a small, light to golden brown (ginger) social ant native to Central and South America, now spread to parts of Africa, Taiwan, North America, Puerto Rico, Israel, Cuba, and six Pacific Island groups plus north-eastern Australia (Cairns). It is a very harmful invasive species.
Mycocepurus smithii is a species of fungus-growing ant from Latin America. This species is widely distributed geographically and can be found from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south, as well as on some Caribbean Islands. It lives in a variety of forested habitats and associated open areas. Two studies published in 2009 demonstrated that some populations of the species consist exclusively of females which reproduce via thelytokous parthenogenesis. A detailed study found evidence of sexual reproduction in some populations in the Brazilian Amazon. Accordingly, M. smithii consists of a mosaic of sexually and asexually reproducing populations. In asexual populations all ants in a single colony are female clones of the queen. Inside the colony, the ants cultivate a garden of fungus grown with pieces of dead vegetable matter, dead insects, and insect droppings.
Platythyrea is a genus of predaceous ants in the subfamily Ponerinae and the sole member of the tribe Platythyreini.
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, 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 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.
Leptanilloides is a genus of ants in the subfamily Dorylinae. Leptanilloides is an uncommonly collected genus with subterranean habits in the New World Andean and sub-Andean tropics.
An ergatoid is a permanently wingless reproductive adult ant or termite. The similar but somewhat ambiguous term ergatogyne refers to any intermediate form between workers and standard gynes. Ergatoid queens are distinct from other ergatogyne individuals in that they are morphologically consistent within a species and are always capable of mating, whereas inter caste individuals, another class of ergatogynes, often are not. Ergatoids can exhibit wide morphological differences between species, sometimes appearing almost identical to normal workers and other times being quite distinct from both workers and standard queens. In addition to morphological features, ergatoids among different species can exhibit a wide range of behaviors, with some ergatoids acting only as reproductives and others actively foraging. Ergatoid queens have developed among a large number of ant species, and their presence within colonies can often provide clues on the social structures of colonies and as to how new colonies are founded. Without wings, almost all species of ants that solely produce ergatoid queens establish new colonies by fission.
Ooceraea is a genus of ants in the subfamily Dorylinae containing approximately 16 described species. The genus is distributed across the Australasia, Indomalaya, Malagasy, Neotropical, Oceania, and Palearctic bioregions. Ooceraea was described by Roger (1862) and later placed as a junior synonym of Cerapachys by Brown (1973). Ooceraea was resurrected as a valid genus by Borowiec (2016) during redescription of the doryline genera.
Cataglyphis cursor is a species of ant in the genus Cataglyphis. Described in 1846, it is known only from the Mediterranean parts of France.
Muscidifurax uniraptor is a species of wasp in the family Pteromalidae. The species does not currently have a common name. M. uniraptor is a pupal parasitoid of synanthropic filth-breeding Diptera and is a natural enemy of the housefly Musca domestica and the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans.
Cerapachys sulcinodis is a South and Southeast Asian species of dorlyine ant first described by Emery in 1889. Colonies comprise up to 2000 workers.
Lysiphlebus is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Braconidae.
