Yellow shadow ant
| Yellow shadow ant | ||||||||||||
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Yellow shadow ant ( Lasius umbratus ) |
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| Lasius umbratus | ||||||||||||
| ( Nylander , 1846) |
The yellow shadow ant ( Lasius umbratus ) is an ant from the genus of the garden ants ( Lasius ) in the subfamily of the scale ants (Formicinae). It is counted to the subgenus Chthonolasius .
features
The species of the subgenus Chthonolasius are very difficult to distinguish from one another as workers; individual workers are mostly indeterminate. A certain determination is mainly possible based on the queens. Wilson therefore saw all species in the group as just one, variable species.
The animals are, like all related species, light yellow to brownish yellow in color with relatively small eyes and short maxillary palpitations which, when put back, do not reach the rear edge of the eye. The surface of the body is covered by dense, pubescent hair, which makes it look silvery shiny. In this species, the hair is a little straightened up and looks a bit tangled. Between pubescence, longer, thin, erect hairs are deposited, also on the underside of the head. The upper edge of the scale (between the trunk section and the free abdomen) is sharp-edged at the top, its upper edge is almost straight or slightly cut out.
distribution and habitat
The species is widespread in the Palearctic , it occurs in Europe, North America and all of northern Asia, in Asia it is rarer than related species. It is common in Central Europe and lives z. B. in sparse forests, in damp grasslands, in gardens and on roadsides. Together with Lasius mixtus , it is the species of the subgenus that penetrates the farthest into rather moist and cool biotopes. It also populates habitats that are strongly influenced by anthropogenic influences. So it occurs occasionally inside houses (in basement rooms). It only avoids extremely dry and very humid habitats . Lasius umbratus usually feeds mainly on the excreta of subterranean, root-sucking aphids and scale insects ( trophobiosis ). But she is a generalist and can use other sources of food.
Like all Chthonolasius species, this species is a temporary social parasite . The availability of suitable host nests is therefore important for the settlement of young queens .
Yellow shadow ants are able to survive floods because the individual animals chain themselves with their bodies to form a bivouac raft .
Reproduction
The females swarm with the males between the end of June and the end of September, on muggy afternoons until the first hours of the night, and after they have mated near the mother colony try to find a host's nest as quickly as possible. The black garden ant ( Lasius niger ) is the main host . Other, less frequently mentioned host species are the brown garden ant ( Lasius brunneus ), Lasius emarginatus , Lasius psammophilus . Before entering the host colony, the young queen first kills a worker of the host species in order to ensure that the nest-specific fragrances are transferred to her own surface. The dismembered remains are also carried in the mandibles for a while , which apparently additionally facilitates the deception of the members of the host colony. This enables penetration into the host's nest. After successful penetration, the parasitic queen is more attractive than the host queen, who eventually dies due to neglect or is driven out of the nest (described by Gößwald on the related Lasius mixtus ). Penetrating the host's nest is risky and very often fails, especially in very small nests. After the establishment, the queen lays eggs, which are raised by the host workers. After these became extinct, the colony later continued with its own workers.
Lasius umbratus is itself also host to another social parasite. The glossy black wood ant ( Lasius fuliginosus ) uses it in the same way as a host ant when establishing a colony.
swell
- Bernhard Seifert: Ant observing determine. Naturbuch Verlag, Augsburg, 1996. ISBN 3-89440-170-2
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Bernhard Seifert: A revision of the European species of the ant subgenus Chthonolasius (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae). In: Entomologische Abhandlungen , Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden, Volume 51, No. 8, 1988, pp. 143-180.
- ^ Edward O. Wilson: A monographic revision of the ant genus Lasius. In: Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology , Vol. 133, No. 1, 1955, pp. 1–201 (with illustrations).
- ↑ C. Anderson, G. Theraulaz, J.-L. Deneubourg: Self-assemblages in insect societies. In: Insectes Sociaux , Vol. 49, No. 2, May 2002, pp. 99-110.
- ↑ K. Gösswald: Basics about parasitic ants with special consideration of the dependent colony foundation of Lasius umbratus mixtus. In: Journal for Scientific Zoology , Volume 151, 1938, pp. 101-148.
- ↑ Frank Mattheis in eusozial.de ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 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.
- ↑ F. Mattheis: Comments on the temporary social parasitic colony foundation of Lasius (Dendrolasius) fuliginosus. In: Ameisenschutz aktuell , Volume 17, No. 1, 2003, pp. 7-19.
- ^ Alfred Buschinger: Social parasitism among ants: a review. In: Myrmecological News , Volume 12, 2009, pp. 219-235.
Web links
- Lasius (Chthonolasius) umbratus at Fauna Europaea
- Lasius umbratus at Antweb