Messor barbarus

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Messor barbarus
Messor barbarus, winged young queen

Messor barbarus , winged young queen

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Family : Ants (Formicidae)
Subfamily : Knot ants (Myrmicinae)
Genre : Messor
Type : Messor barbarus
Scientific name
Messor barbarus
( Linnaeus , 1767)

Messor barbarus is a species of harvest ants widespread in the Mediterranean region.

features

As with almost all species of the genus Messor , extreme differences in size of the workers can also be seen here. The workers are glossy black, the largest (majores) partly reddish, and are 3 to 13 millimeters tall. The queen is shiny black with mostly red head and rarely with a red gaster. It reaches a size of around 13 to 15 millimeters. The species is hairy relatively short on the head, a conspicuous group of forward curved bristles, the psammophores, is unlike many related species not developed.

The most similar species that occurs together with Messor barbarus is Messor capitatus , with which it is placed in a common species group. The types are best distinguishable on large workers (majores). In these, the propodeum is rounded at the top in Messor barbarus and angular in Messor capitatus . In addition, the head of these workers in Messor barbarus is clearly reddish in color, while Messor capitatus is monochrome black.

distribution and habitat

Messor barbarus is common in grasslands (including cultivated land), maquis and rocky heaths of the western Mediterranean region including North Africa. Mostly older references from other regions are now usually assigned to other species. Contrary to older faunistic information, it does not occur in either Turkey or Iran. All information from the Balkans is now considered dubious.

Way of life

Messor barbarus ' nests can contain several thousand workers. They are founded by a single queen ant and later contain only one queen ( claustral and monogynous ). The workers are active during the day, but avoid the hot midday hours in midsummer. Depending on where they were found, there is usually a shortened winter rest from November to March. During this time, the animals are not very active and feed on the seeds they have brought in all year round. Likewise, no new brood is raised during hibernation.

Preparation of the worker and queen

nutrition

Unlike most ant species, Messor barbarus, like all harvest ants, feeds almost exclusively on seeds that they bring in from spring to autumn. Messor barbarus is the most common and ecologically most important harvest ant species in the Mediterranean. More than 90 percent of the populations examined brought in seeds, occasionally other plant fragments, rarely also lichens or dead insects. The species shows clear preferences for certain types of seeds, due to their abundance and often high density they influence the distribution and frequency of the plant species in their habitat. By eating the seeds, it has a negative impact on the plant species; on the other hand, it can carry seeds around, then drop them elsewhere and thereby spread them, even if only a few (less than 1 percent) due to the efficient harvesting technology. The seeds of some plant species have characteristics that are interpreted as adaptations to harvest ants, for example seeds of the asphalt clover of the species are collected, but later because of the hard shell usually sorted out again and thus distributed. In addition to the caryopses of grasses, seed pods from rushes and the achenes of some composites are preferred; large (especially long) seeds are generally preferred.

Like many harvest ants species, Messor barbarus forms stable, long-term used roads ("trunk trails") from the subterranean nest location into rich feeding grounds that are kept free of obstacles. The paths are chemically marked by a pheromone from Dufour's glands. The roads are defended against non-colony harvest ants of the same and other species. This leads to a division of the habitat into food territories. Often female workers drop seeds halfway, which are ingested by other workers; this is how real transport chains develop.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Figure
  2. ↑ H. Cagniant & X. Espadaler (1997): Le genre Messor au Maroc (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (NS) 33 (4): 419-434.
  3. ↑ Kadri Kiran & Celal Karaman (2012): First annotated checklist of the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3548: 1-38.
  4. ↑ Omid Paknia, Alexander Radchenko, Helen Alipanah, Martin Pfeiffer (2008): A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iran. Myrmecological News 11: 151-159.
  5. ↑ Azcarate, FM, Arqueros, L., Sanchez, AM, Peco, B. (2005): Seed and fruit selection by harvester ants, Messor barbarus, in Mediterranean grassland and scrubland. Functional Ecology 19: 273-283. doi : 10.1111 / j.0269-8463.2005.00956.x
  6. ↑ Claire Detrain & Olivier Mug: (2000): Seed drops and caches by the harvester ant Messor barbarus: do they contribute to seed dispersal in Mediterranean grasslands? Science 87: 373-376.
  7. ↑ Jordi Oliveras, Crisanto Gómez, Josep M. Bas, Xavier Espadaler (2008): Mechanical defense in seeds to avoid predation by a granivorous ant. Science 95: 501-506. doi : 10.1007 / s00114-008-0349-0
  8. ↑ C. Detrain, O.Tasse, M. Versaen, JM Pasteels (2000): A field assessment of optimal foraging in ants: trail patterns and seed retrieval by the European harvester ant Messor barbarus. Insectes Sociaux 47: 56-62.
  9. ↑ A. Heredia & C. Detrain (2000): Worker size polymorphism and ethological role of sting associated glands in the harvester ant Messor barbarus. Insectes Sociaux 47: 383-389.
  10. ↑ Francisco J. Acosta, Francisco Lopez, Jose M. Serrano (1995): Dispersed Versus Central-Place Foraging: Intra- and Intercolonial Competition in the Strategy of Trunk Trail Arrangement of a Harvester Ant. American Naturalist Vol. 145, No. 3: 389-411.
  11. ↑ JL Reyes & J. Fernández Haeger (1999): Sequential co-operative load transport in the seed-harvesting ant Messor barbarus. Insectes Sociaux 46: 119-125.

Web links

Commons : Messor barbarus  - collection of images, videos and audio files