Red-legged spider ant
| Red-legged spider ant | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Red-legged spider ant ( Smicromyrme rufipes ), female |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Smicromyrme rufipes | ||||||||||||
| ( Fabricius , 1787) |
The red-legged spider Ant ( Smicromyrme rufipes ) is a Hymenoptera from the family of velvet ants (Mutillidae).
features
The animals reach a body length of three to eight millimeters (females) or four to ten millimeters (males). The head and abdomen are black, while the thorax is usually red in color. The front part of the thorax is colored either red or black. In contrast to the males, the females are brachypter (wingless). The female's pygidial field is completely striped lengthways. The males have a two-toothed tip of the mandible and a lateral felt furrow on the second sternite . The species can easily be confused with the other species in the genus. The species can be distinguished from Myrmosa atra by the first tergite , which is colored red in the similar species.
Occurrence
The species is widespread in Europe, east to Central Asia. It populates sandy habitats with favorable temperatures, but is also found occasionally on grasslands , in vineyards or on loess walls. The animals occur from late May to early October. They can be found widespread in Central Europe.
Way of life
The red-legged spider ant parasitizes the larvae of various digger wasps nesting in the ground . The females are very good runners and when there is danger they hide in the sand or in the vegetation and pretend to be dead. The males fly close to the ground in search of females.
swell
literature
- Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .
Web links
- Smicromyrme rufipes / Red-legged spider ant at www.naturspaziergang.de
- Smicromyrme rufipes at www.biolib.cz