Cheliomyrmex andicola
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| Emery , 1894 |
Cheliomyrmex andicola ( Cheliomyrmex andicola , Emery 1894) is a South American wandering ant species from the subfamily of Ecitoninae.
features
Workers of the genus Cheliomyrmex can easily be distinguished from other South American wandering ant species by their only one- limbed petiolus . The antennae are twelve-membered with a short, slightly thickened shaft (scapus). The males have an antenna whip that only slightly exceeds the width of the head (much shorter than that of Eciton ). The species can be distinguished from the other three species of the genus by the dark brown colored, dotted head and trunk of the workers; This is red-yellow and shiny in the other species.
Large workers ("soldiers") of the species reach a body length of six millimeters, they are maroon with a darker head. The head is slightly wider than it is long, bulged at the occiput and finely rimmed there. The animals have small but recognizable eyes. The mouthparts have three-part labial and two-part maxillary palps. The mandibles are long and sickle-shaped with three very strong, clearly separated teeth. The antennae flagella is slimmer than in C. morosus , all limbs are longer than wide.
Systematics
The genus Cheliomyrmex was first described by Mayr in 1870 and is one of the lesser-known New World wandering ants. Species described so far are: Cheliomyrmex andicola (Emery, 1894), Cheliomyrmex audax (Santschi, 1921), Cheliomyrmex megalonyx (Wheeler, 1921), Cheliomyrmex morosus (Smith, 1859)
A scientific synonym for the species is Cheliomyrmex ursinum Kempf.
Occurrence
The genus Cheliomyrmex is widespread in Central and South America . Cheliomyrmex andicola occurs in the rainforests and mountain forests of eastern Ecuador at altitudes of 500 to 2,400 meters. It is also represented in Brazil , Colombia and Peru .
Way of life
The ant species mainly lives underground in tropical forest floors and is therefore less apparent than, for example, wandering ants of the genus Eciton. For distances to be covered above ground, it builds tunnel-like galleries out of earth. Cheliomyrmex andicola feeds on ground-dwelling invertebrates and, unusual for neotropical wandering ants, apparently also on smaller vertebrates. In Ecuador, the corpse of a snake about 10 centimeters long was found inside a gallery of the species, the meat of which the animals gnawed (whether the snake was killed by the animals is unknown). On another occasion, female workers chased a giant earthworm of the genus Martiodrilus , which tried to escape its pursuers by breaking out onto the surface of the ground; the worm was immobilized or killed by bites and stings by five workers. It therefore seems plausible that the species specializes in large prey.
The bites of the species are uncomfortable for humans too. The animals can penetrate human skin and bite into it with their powerful jaws.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Borgmeier (1955): The wandering ants of the neotropical region. Studia Entomologica 3: 1-720. p.71 download (30 MB)
- ↑ Barry Bolton (1995): A New General Catalog of the Ants of the World. Cambridge, Harvard University Press
- ↑ Cheliomyrmex andicola at Antweb.org
- ↑ Identification key of the genus at armyants.org ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Fernando Fernandez & Sebastian Sendoya (2004): Synonymic list of neotropical ants. Biota Colombiana 5 (1): 1-110 ( online ).
- ↑ Attack Ants feed on Worms and Snakes
- ↑ Sean O'Donnell, Michael Kaspari, John Lattke (2005): Extraordinary Predation by the Neotropical Army Ant Cheliomyrmex andicola: Implications for the Evolution of the Army Ant Syndrome. Biotropica 37 (4): 706-709. doi : 10.1111 / j.1744-7429.2005.00091.x
- ↑ O'Donnell at Spiegel online: Killer insects: ants hunt vertebrates
