Scale ants

Scale ants
Red wood ant ( Formica rufa )
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera) Subordination : Waist Wasps (Apocrita) Family : Ants (Formicidae) Subfamily : Scale ants
Scientific name
Formicinae
Latreille , 1809

The scale ants (Formicinae) are one of the most species-rich subfamilies within the ants (Formicidae). In addition to the scale ants , the knot ants (Myrmicinae), the primeval ants ( Ponerinae) and the gland ants (Dolichoderinae) are among the most widespread groups of ants in Central Europe .

features

Body type of a scale ant with a scaly stalk limb

The distinguishing feature that unites all species of this subfamily is particularly striking . They have a clearly scale-shaped stalk member ( Petiolus ) and a five-membered abdomen ( Gaster ). The gaster is smooth and without noticeable constrictions between the individual segments . Instead of a spike, there is a tubular acid pore (acidopore) at the end of the abdomen, which is framed by a bristle ring.

In representatives of this subfamily, highly developed behaviors are common, such as aphid breeding, symbiosis with root lice or keeping "slave ants". Social parasitic behaviors are common. On the other hand, there are still primitive features like cocoon pupae . The antennae and mandible are hardly reduced or modified in their segmentation either, except in exceptional cases, as in the genus Polyergus .

Glands

In the course of evolution , the poison gland has specialized and enlarged significantly. The species belonging to the scale ants are the only ants that have formic acid . Formic acid fumes act like breath poison in small animals and can also be fatal. With the availability of this effective weapon, the sting became superfluous and receded. Scale ants such as the genera Brachymyrmex and Paratrechina produce the poisonous alkaloids pumiliotoxins .

distribution

The following genera are represented in Central Europe (selection):

• Ross ants ( Camponotus )
• Wood ants ( Formica )
• Garden ants ( Lasius )
• Plagiolepis
• Polyergus

In total, these genera make up about a third of the entire spectrum of ants in Germany. The best known representatives in Germany are the red wood ant ( Formica rufa ), or the black garden ant ( Lasius niger ). 3700 species and subspecies of the scale ants are known worldwide.

ecology

On the diet with formicinae particularly the genera Brachymyrmex and Paratrechina empowering goes Erdbeerfroeschchen back, poison to accumulate, which they secrete on their skin surface. 232 poisonous alkaloids have been identified in the skin of strawberry frogs, including the pumiliotoxins in particular.

Systematics

The scale ants are divided into the following tribe and genera :

• Camponotini
  • Calomyrmex
  • † Camponotites
  • Camponotus
  • † Chaemeromyrma
  • Echinopla
  • Forelophilus
  • Opisthopsis
  • Overbeckia
  • Phasmomyrmex
  • Polyrhachis
  • † Pseudocamponotus
• Formicini
  • Alloformica
  • Bajcaridris
  • Cataglyphis
  • Formica
  • † Glaphyromyrmex
  • Polyergus (e.g. Polyergus rufescens )
  • Proformica
  • † Protoformica
  • Rossomyrmex
• Gesomyrmecini
  • Gesomyrmex
  • † Prodimorphomyrmex
  • Santschiella
  • † Sicilomyrmex
• Gigantopini
  • Gigantiops
• Lasiini
  • Acropyga
  • Anoplolepis (e.g. Anoplolepis gracilipes )
  • Cladomyrma
  • Lasiophanes
  • Lasius
  • Myrmecocystus
  • Prolasius
  • Stigmacros
  • Teratomyrmex
• Melophorini
  • Melophorus
• Myrmecorhynchini
  • Myrmecorhynchus
  • Notoncus
  • Pseudonotoncus
• Myrmelachistini
  • Myrmelachista
• Myrmoteranini
  • Myrmoteras
• Notostigmatini
  • Notostigma
• Oecophyllini
  • Oecophylla
• Plagiolepidini
  • Agraulomyrmex
  • Aphomomyrmex
  • Brachymyrmex
  • Bregmatomyrma
  • Euprenolepsis
  • Lepisiota
  • Myrmelachista
  • Paratrechina
  • Petalomyrmex
  • Plagiolepsis
  • Pseudaphomomyrmex
  • Pseudolasius
  • Tapinolepis

swell

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bernhard Seifert : The ants of Central and Northern Europe . lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Görlitz / Tauer 2007, ISBN 978-3-936412-03-1 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Konrad Staudt et al. : Foraging behavior and territoriality of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) in dependence of the presence of ants. In: Amphibia-Reptilia. Volume 31, No. 2, 2010, pp. 217-227. doi : 10.1163 / 156853810791069100 .
3. ↑ T. Grant et al. : Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia, Athesphatanura, Dendrobatidae). In: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Volume 299, 2006, pp. 1-262.
4. ^ RA Saporito, MA Donnelly, P. Jain, H. Martin Garraffo, TF Spande, JW Daly: Spatial and temporal patterns of alkaloid variation in the poison frog Oophaga pumilio in Costa Rica and Panama over 30 years. In: Toxicon: official journal of the International Society on Toxinology. Volume 50, Number 6, November 2007, pp. 757-778, doi : 10.1016 / j.toxicon.2007.06.022 , PMID 17706737 .
5. ^ Formicinae. Tree Of Life web project, accessed May 28, 2008 . 

literature

• Bert Hölldobler , Edward O. Wilson : Ants. The discovery of a fascinating world. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel - Boston - Berlin 1995. ISBN 3-7643-5152-7 .

Web links

Commons : Scale ants  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Formicinae. In: AntWiki. Retrieved July 20, 2013 .