Class Insecta: Order Hymenoptera ANTS Flashcards
colonial (caste system)
use of queens, drones and workers
Ex) weaver Ants (major and minor workers)
Ex) leafcutter ants
Major workers
forage, defend, maintain and expand the colony
minor workers
care for the brood and collect carbohydrate-rich honeydew for scale insects
leafcutter ants
flywhisk guardings, prevent parasitic flies from laying eggs on the necks of worker ants
ANTS
- 12000 species
- dominate most ecosystems (15-20% of terrestrial animal biomass)
- colonized almost every landmass on the earth
nests
ant hills, most ants construct complex nests and galleries in the ground, under rocks or logs, inside logs, hollow stems or even acorns. material used for construction include soil and plant matter
food (leafcutter ants )
feed exclusively on a specially adapted fungus that grows only within their colonies; they continually collect leaves which are returned to the colony, cut into tiny pieces and placed in fungal garden
food (honeypot ants)
gorged with food by workers, to the point that their abdomens sell enormously and other ants in the colony extract nourishment from them; they function essentially as living food supply
predation
a fungus (cordyceps) infects ants causing them to climb up plants and sink their mandibles into the plant tissue, where the fungus kills and engulfs the ant and produces its fruiting body thus using the ant to help disperse its pores
symbiosis
aphids secrete a sweet liquid called honeydew which they exude in the process of feeding from plants, sugars provides high energy food source, which many ant species collect; in some cases the aphids secrete the honeydew specifically in response to the ants tapping them with their antennae; the ants in turn keep predators away and will move the aphids around to better feeding locations
other
some species like the bullhorn acacia in central america have hollow thorns that serve to house the colonies of stinging ants that defend the tree against insects, browsing mammals and epiphytic vines
