Common lawn ant
| Common lawn ant | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common lawn ant worker ( Tetramorium caespitum ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tetramorium caespitum | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The common turf ant ( Tetramorium caespitum ) from the subfamily of the knot ants (Myrmicinae) is one of the most common ant species in Central Europe .
features
The workers are 2.5 to 4 millimeters long. The average length is 3.25 millimeters. Their body is predominantly dark brown to blackish, the legs , antennae and mandibles, on the other hand, are yellowish-brown. The edges of the individual Gaster segments are also yellowish. The head is wrinkled and has deep grooves. The mesosoma also shows longitudinal grooves. The nodes of the stalk and the first gastric segment, however, are smooth. At the posterior corners of the metathorax are two short, tooth-shaped thorns. The sex animals are much larger than the workers. The body length of the queens is six to eight millimeters. They have wings that they shed after mating. The also winged males have no thorns on the thorax and are five to seven millimeters long.
Similar species
This species belongs to the Tetramorium caespitum / impurum complex. This means that there are six other species in Central Europe ( Tetramorium impurum and five species designated by code names) that are morphologically very similar. Exact species identification is only possible with the help of morphometric methods or molecular genetic tests.
distribution and habitat
The common lawn ant is found from the British Isles to Western Siberia . It is the only Tetramorium species in Europe that is also native to the north of the 53rd parallel, in Fennoscandia it can be found up to the 63rd parallel. The common lawn ant prefers sunny and dry locations, avoiding loamy subsoil. It settles mainly in the lowlands and hill country on sandy soils and limestone soils. From a height of 500 meters, it is replaced by Tetramorium impurum . It also occurs on limestone soils in southern Germany up to a height of 700 meters. It was introduced into North America as early as 1700, where it is widespread in the south and east of the USA .
Way of life
Tetramorium caespitum is very aggressive towards other ants, especially towards other peoples of its own species. The states are always monogynous and have a population of 80,000 workers. The sex animals swarm in high air pressure in the morning hours on days between the beginning of June and the beginning of August. There are some social parasites that are well adapted to the common lawn ant and develop in its nest. These include the laborless parasite ant ( Anergates atratulus ), or the various species from the genera Strongylognathus and Teleutomyrmex .
nutrition
The species feeds on the one hand zoophag , mainly on carrion. Prey is rarely hunted independently. On the other hand, it also conducts trophobiosis with plant suckers living in the ground and with the caterpillars of bluebirds , who stay in the ants' nests as guests of ants. In return for protection against predators, they give their honeydew to the ants. A large part of the energy requirement is also covered by granivorous nutrition. So a lot of grains are put into the nest, processed and fed to the larvae.
Nest building
The peoples settle underground, either under stones or in the open field. Free-standing nests are easy to recognize by their huge earth dome. The ants occupy a relatively small area, but behave very aggressively when the nest is disturbed. There are an average of 20 nests per hectare, with the highest population density up to 93 nests per hectare.
Systematics
The species is divided into the following subspecies :
- T. caespitum caespitomoravicum Kratochvil, 1941
- T. caespitum caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758)
- T. caespitum flavidulum Emery, 1922
- T. caespitum galaticum Menozzi, 1936
- T. caespitum penninum Santschi, 1927
- T. caespitum rhodium Emery, 1922
Synonyms
The following synonyms for Tetramorium caespitum are known from the literature :
- Myrmica fuscula Nylander
- Tetramorium caespitum var. Hammi Donisthorpe
- Tetramorium caespitum subsp. himalayanum Viehmeyer
- Tetramorium caespitum var. Immigrans Santschi
- Tetramorium caespitum var. Indocile Santschi
- Tetramorium semilaeve subsp. transbaicalense Ruzsky
- Myrmica (Myrmica) brevinodis var. Transversinodis Enzmann
- Formica binodis Linnaeus
- Myrmica modesta Foerster
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Heiko Bellmann : Bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4
- ↑ a b Tarkington, L .: Tetramorium caespitum . Animal Diversity Web, accessed July 16, 2008 .
- ^ Schlick-Steiner, BC, FM Steiner, K. Moder, B. Seifert, M. Sanetra, E. Dyreson, C. Stauffer & E. Christian (2006): A multidisciplinary approach reveals cryptic diversity in western Palaearctic Tetramorium ants (Hymenoptera : Formicidae). - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40: 259-273.
- ↑ a b c d Bernhard Seifert: The ants of Central and Northern Europe . lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Görlitz / Tauer 2007, ISBN 978-3-936412-03-1
- ↑ Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus 1758). Fauna Europaea, accessed July 14, 2008 .
- ^ Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758). www.formicidae.be, accessed July 14, 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