Myrmica

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Myrmica
Two red garden ant workers (Myrmica rubra)

Two red garden ant workers ( Myrmica rubra )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Family : Ants (Formicidae)
Subfamily : Knot ants (Myrmicinae)
Tribe : Myrmicini
Genre : Myrmica
Scientific name
Myrmica
Latreille , 1804
Myrmica workers with aphids

Myrmica are a genus of ants (Formicidae) and belong to the subfamily of knot ants (Myrmicinae). Representatives are widespread in Central Europe and are popularly referred to as "red ants". The best-known species include the red garden ant ( Myrmica rubra ) and the dry-grass knot ant ( Myrmica scabrinodis ).

features

Myrmica sp. Woman worker, side view
Several Myrmica sp. Workers drink sugar water.

The workers are of medium size, usually around five millimeters. Even with the smallest species, the length is always over a millimeter. They are colored monochrome in tones of red, yellow and brown. The color, however, is not species-specific and can vary greatly in different populations of the same species, even in workers from the same nest. The antennas consist of 12 sections, with the sensor lobe consisting of three to four sections. The mandibles are set with 7 to 10 teeth at the chewing margin, which become larger towards the tip. Like all knot ants , the female castes have a poisonous sting . The stalk member consists of two large, nodular segments, the petiolus in Myrmica has a protrusion or a tooth on the underside and is round instead of long-stalked. The postpetiolus is smooth with no appendages on the underside. Stridulation sounds can be generated by rubbing the postpetiolus against the grooved underside of the first gastric segment . The noises are used for communication, but cannot be heard by humans. The maxillary palps consist of six, the labial palps of four limbs. The tibia of the hind legs each have a spur shaped like a comb. There are usually two long thorns on the propodeum . The winged females are larger than the workers and at least 1.5 millimeters long in the smallest species. They shed their wings after mating. The antennae are 13-segmented in the also winged males. The males die after mating. The wings of the sex animals are characterized by the fact that the cubital cell is divided by an incomplete transverse artery.

Socially parasitic Myrmica species ( Symbiomyrma )

There are some socially parasitic species in which the working class is completely reduced, for example Myrmica karavajevi . They live as permanent social parasites ( equilines ) in other Myrmica species. In contrast to their host ants, the spurs on the tibia are never shaped like a comb in all morphs of these socially parasitic species. They also have a pronounced perioccipital flange that ends in a ridge at the bottom of the head. The mesosoma is significantly shorter than that of the other myrmica , and the hairiness of the petiolus is also shorter. They are summarized in the subgenus Symbiomyrma . There are also other social parasites, for example Myrmica hirsuta , which, however, still have a working class.

Similar genera

There is a risk of confusion with members of the genus Manica , such as the great knot ant . These are morphologically quite similar, but have no thorns on the propodeum and are much larger. Smaller Myrmica species can also be confused with inconspicuously colored representatives from the genera Leptothorax and Temnothorax .

distribution

The distribution area extends over the entire Holarctic . Many species are represented in Asia , where they are found from northern Siberia to the mountainous region of rear India . Many species are also common in the Caucasus . In Europe, the populated area extends from Fennoscandia to the Mediterranean , with only a few species occurring in wetter locations in warmer areas. In North Africa only individual settlements are known. In the Nearctic there are various species from the Arctic Circle to the highlands of Mexico . Myrmica is absent in South America , Australia, and southern Africa .

Way of life

Myrmica colonies are mostly polygynous , with populations usually ranging from 300 to 1,500 individuals. An individual number of up to 10,000 animals is rarely reached. The workers usually move individually, either in the litter layer or on the surface of the earth. Some species also amount to bushes and trees. The diet is largely zoophagous . In addition, they also collect nectar and operate trophobiosis with aphids and scale insects living underground and above ground . In addition, many species have symbiotic or parasitic relationships with nearly a hundred different other insects , particularly butterflies (mostly bluebirds ). The nests are created underground, usually under the protection of stones or lying tree trunks and on the roots of plants. Against soil compaction are Myrmica TYPES relatively insensitive.

Larval development and caste termination

The development of the brood is strongly temperature dependent. Under the climatic conditions prevailing in Central Europe, the development process from egg-laying to the finished imago takes between 70 and 90 days if the egg was laid in spring. This generation is known as the "fast brood". Eggs that are laid after mid-July, on the other hand, are called "slow brood". The resulting larvae overwinter once in the mother's nest and may develop into fertile females in the following spring. However, this also requires the correct feeding with secretions from the postpharynx gland. This feeding determines whether small workers, large workers or queens are produced. The queens in turn exert an influence on the brood care behavior of the other animals through pheromones from the head gland. For example, the workers of M. rubra mutilate those larvae with bite injuries, from which queens could possibly arise, so that only workers can emerge from them. In the absence of queens, larvae have a greater chance of becoming fertile females.

Reproduction and Colony Establishment

The winged sex animals swarm in summer. This leads to a spreading flight, the animals from different nests often meet at prominent points in the terrain for the summit courtship . Males can stay there for several days until a young queen ready to mate appears. Mating never takes place in flight, but always on a firm base. The females are capable of establishing colony on their own, which occurs semiclaustrally . The foundation can also be done jointly by several animals in pleometrosis . Young queens are also often taken into existing nests of the same species. Accordingly, most of the Myrmica colonies are polygynous .

Relationship with Bluebirds

The caterpillars of about three-quarters of the more closely researched bluefin species live myrmekophil , i.e. on or with ants. In the Polyommatini tribe there are over 90 percent of all species. Some caterpillars give off a sugary secretion that the ants use as food , similar to honeydew . In return, the caterpillars are protected from predators. Other blue caterpillars live as parasites in the ant burrows. By tactile and chemical mimicry , they are carried into the nest by their hosts and fed like an ant larva, and some species also eat the ant brood.

Many species are adapted to certain Myrmica species and can only develop into an imago in the nest of their host. Bluebirds ( Phengaris ) are tied to a specific main host, which, however, can vary from region to region. The blue ant ( Phengaris arion ) needs the species Myrmica sabuleti for development. In some areas, other species can also be used as secondary hosts. So kicking Phengaris Alcon ( Phengaris alcon ) mainly in the Red Garden Ant ( Myrmica rubra ), but also in the forest node ant ( Myrmica ruginodis on).

Systematics

Worldwide there are 187 described species as well as further subspecies and variations. Many officially valid taxa are likely to be younger synonyms of a different species. The socially parasitic species, of which four different occur in the Western Palearctic, are usually placed in the subgenus Symbiomyrma . The name is often used synonymously in literature.

In Central Europe there are at least 18 different members of the genus Myrmica , including the following species:

Synonyms

The following names are synonyms for the genus Myrmica :

  • Dodecamyrmica Arnoldi, 1968
  • Paramyrmica Cole, 1957
  • Sifolinia Emery, 1907
  • Sommimyrma Menozzi, 1925
  • Symbiomyrma Arnoldi, 1930

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Bernhard Seifert: The ants of Central and Northern Europe . lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Görlitz / Tauer 2007, ISBN 978-3-936412-03-1
  2. ^ Bernhard Seifert: A taxonomic revision of the Myrmica species of Europe, Asia Minor, and Caucasia . Treatises and reports of the Natural History Museum Görlitz 62, 1-75 (1988). ( Full text )
  3. ↑ a b c Neal A. Webber: A revision of the North American ants of the genus Myrmica with a synopsis of the palearctic species . Annals Of The Entomological Society Of America Vol. XL, No. 3 (1947). ( Full text )
  4. ^ List of host ant species for blue ant species
  5. ^ Myrmica Taxon Count. (No longer available online.) Hymenoptera Name Server, formerly the original ; Retrieved March 29, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu  
  6. ↑ Hölldobler and Wilson : The Ants . Springer (1990) ISBN 3-540-52092-9

literature

Web links

Commons : Myrmica  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
  • AntWeb pictures of different Myrmica species