Exocrine chemistry of the myrmicine ant Zacryptocerus pusillus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Minor workers of the ant Zacryptocerus pusillus have unusual exocrine secretions in both their mandibular and Dufour glands. The mandibular glands contain a 3:1 mixture of 4-heptanone and 4-heptanol, a mixture found only in the related species Z. varians. The Dufour gland contains a mixture of 13 aldehydes from C9 to C18, not previously encountered in ant secretions. The venom glands gave variable results with only nonanal present consistently.     

Morphological phylogeny of army ants and other dorylomorphs (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract. The dorylomorph group of ants comprises the three subfamilies of army ants (Aenictinae, Dorylinae, Ecitoninae) together with the subfamilies Aenictogitoninae, Cerapachyinae, and Leptanilloidinae. We describe new morphological characters and synthesize data from the literature in order to present the first hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships among all dorylomorph genera. These data include the first available character information from the newly discovered male caste of Leptanilloidinae. We used ant taxa from Leptanillinae, Myrmeciinae, and the poneromorph (Ponerinae sensu lato) subfamilies Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae, and Paraponerinae as outgroups. We scored a total of 126 characters from twenty-two terminal taxa and used these data to conduct maximum parsimony and bootstrap analyses. The single most-parsimonious tree and bootstrap results support a single origin of army ants. The Old World army ant genus Dorylus forms a monophyletic group with the enigmatic genus Aenictogiton, which is currently known only from males; the second Old World army ant genus Aenictus is sister to this clade. This result generates the prediction that females of Aenictogiton, when discovered, will be observed to possess the army ant syndrome of behavioural and reproductive traits. The monophyly of the New World army ants (Ecitoninae) is supported very strongly, and within this group the genera Eciton, Nomamyrmex, and Labidus form a robust clade. The monophyly of Leptanilloidinae is also upheld. The subfamily Cerapachyinae appears paraphyletic, although this conclusion is not supported by strong bootstrap results. Relationships among genera of Cerapachyinae similarly are not resolved robustly, although parsimony results suggest clades consisting of (Acanthostichus + Cylindromyrmex) and (Cerapachys + Sphinctomyrmex). We tested for the effect of incompletely known taxa by conducting a secondary analysis in which the two genera containing ∼50% missing character data (Aenictogiton and Asphinctanilloides) were removed. The strict consensus of the seventeen most-parsimonious trees from this secondary analysis is poorly resolved outside the army ants and contains no clades conflicting with the primary analysis. The position of Leptanilla shifts from forming the sister group to Leptanilloidinae (without high bootstrap support) in the primary analysis, to falling within a polytomy at the base of the root of the dorylomorphs when incompletely known taxa are removed. This instability suggests that the placement of Leptanilla within the dorylomorphs in our primary analysis may be spurious.     

The Ectatommini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Ghana

Three species of Ectatommini, one of which is described as new, are reported from Ghana. A key to workers of the Ghanaian species is included.     

Ants (Hymenoptera,Formicidae) of Kyiv

Entomological Review - Altogether, 59 ant species from 22 genera of 4 subfamilies have been recorded in Kyiv. Four of them are occasionally introduced species which occur only in premises heated in...     

Comparative ultrastructure of ant spermatozoa (Formicidae: Hymenoptera)

Mature spermatozoa from spermathecae of founding queens were obtained from 5 species of ants, representing the major subfamilies Myrmicinae (Acromyrmex versicolor, Crematogaster sp.) and Dolichoderinae (Tapinoma sessile, Conomyrma insana, Conomyrma wheeleri). The ultrastructure of ant spermatozoa has many features in common with that of higher insects and is similar to that of other Hymenoptera. Structural similarities to spermatozoa of other Hymenoptera include an acrosome containing an internal rod that extends into the nucleus, two elongate mitochondrial derivatives, a centriolar adjunct, and an axonemal arrangement of 9 + 9 + 2 that includes well-developed coarse, or accessory, tubules. Spermatozoa obtained from A. versicolor, a species that is known to store and utilize viable sperm from this supply for over 10 years, show greater development of the mitochondrial derivatives than do the other species. The most distinctive feature of ant spermatozoa in comparison to other Hymenoptera is the large size of the centriolar adjunct relative to the other organelles. The centriolar adjunct is located posterior to the nucleus, anterior to the mitochondrial derivatives, and opposite the axoneme.     

The internal phylogeny of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract. The higher phylogeny of the Formicidae was analysed using 68 characters and 19 taxa: the 14 currently recognized ant subfamilies plus 5 potentially critical infrasubfamilial taxa. The results justified the recognition of 3 additional subfamilies: Aenictogitoninae Ashmead (new status), Apomyrminae Dlussky & Fedoseeva (new status), and Leptanilloidinae Bolton (new subfamily). A second analysis on these better delimited 17 subfamilies resulted in 24 equally most parsimonious trees. All trees showed a basal division of extant Formicidae into two groups, the first containing (Myrmicinae, Pseudomyrmecinae, Nothomyrmeciinae, Myrmeciinae, Formicinae, Dolichoderinae, Aneuretinae) and the second the remaining subfamilies. Clades appearing within these groups included the Cerapachyinae plus 'army ants', the Nothomyrmeciinae plus Myrmeciinae, the 'formicoid' subfamilies (Aneuretinae + Dolichoderinae + Formicinae), and the Old World army ants (Aenictinae + Aenictogitoninae + Doryline), but relationships within the last two groups were not resolved, and the relative positions of the Apomyrminae, Leptanillinae and Ponerinae remained ambiguous. Moreover, a bootstrap analysis produced a consensus tree in which all branches were represented in proportions much lower than 95%. A reconstruction of the ground plan of the Formicidae indicated that the most specialized of all recent ants are the members of the subfamily Dorylinae and the least specialized ones are the monotypic Apomyrminae.     

Common names for Australian ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract Most insects do not have common names, and this is a significant barrier to public interest in them, and to their study by non-specialists. This holds for even highly familiar insect groups such as ants. Here, I propose common names for all major native Australian ant genera and species-groups, as well as for many of the most abundant and distinctive species. Sixty-two genera, 142 species-groups and 50 species are given names. The naming system closely follows taxonomic structure; typically a genus is given a general common name, under which species-group and species names are nested.     

Atypical vitellins in ponerine ants (Formicidae: Hymenoptera)

Higher hymenopteran vitellogenin/vitellins have been characterized as containing one large apoprotein. We show that in the ant subfamily Ponerinae, species in the tribes Odontomachini, Platythyrini, and Amblyoponini, also have a vitellin with this simple structure, containing a single apoprotein of 180-190kDa. Species in tribes Ponerini and Ectatommini, however, have vitellins containing multiple subunits. The size and number of the subunits varies, with differences even among species within the same genus. This is the first report of diversity in vitellogenin structure in the higher Hymenoptera. Vitellin and vitellogenin in Harpegnathos saltator (Ponerini) contain two large subunits of about 165kDa and two small subunits of about 45 and 43kDa. N-terminal sequence analysis suggests that provitellogenin is cleaved at two different sites, producing two large and two small subunits differing slightly in size. Diversity of vitellin types in Ponerini and Ectatommini is similar to that found in the more primitive tenthredinoid sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta), and may indicate polyphyly in the Ponerinae. Insect vitellogenins and yolk proteins show considerably more diversity than originally believed, and the possibility of the functional significance of these differences should be considered.     

Alarm-recruitment behaviour in Pheidole militicida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

ABSTRACT.

• 1 Pheidole militicida Wheeler, a seed-harvesting species of the southwestern United States, possesses a major worker caste (soldiers) with unusually large heads. Previous work suggested that these large major workers are specialized defenders against large seed-harvesting species in the genus Pogonomyrmex.
• 2 Experimental introductions of Pogonomyrmex maricopa Wheeler and the omnivorous fire ant, Solenopsis xyloni McCook, demonstrate that P. militicida colonies alarm-recruit major workers against S.xyloni workers but not against the larger Pogonomyrmex workers.
• 3 P.militicida is the second species in which enemy-specific defence against Solenopsis fire ants has been detected. I suggest that the special role of Solenopsis as both competitor and predator in ant communities frequently favours major worker specialization against this genus.
• 4 Major workers of P.militicida and Pheidole dentata Mayr, the other species with enemy-specific defence against Solenopsis, are morphologically very different from one another. It is suggested that interspecific variation in major worker morphology is not necessarily associated with variation in behavioural specialization.

     

Revision of the dolichoderine ant genus Turneria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract. The Australasian ant genus Turneria is revised. T.bidentata Forel, T.dahlii Forel and T.pacifica Mann are redescribed and a lectotype designated for T.bidentata. T.frenchi Forel is transferred to Stigmacros (comb.n.), and T.butteli Forel is transferred to Iridomyrmex (comb.n.). Three new species, T.arbusta, T.collina and T.postomma, are described from Papua New Guinea. Males of the genus are described for the first time. A key to the workers of recognized species and a distribution map are provided. The group is analysed cladistically and the resulting species relationships are discussed, along with a comment on the use of polymorphic characters.     

Molecular phylogeny of the ant tribe Myrmicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The interrelationships within ant subfamilies remain elusive, despite the recent establishment of the phylogeny of the major ant lineages. The tribe Myrmicini belongs to the subfamily Myrmicinae, and groups morphologically unspecialized genera. Previous research has struggled with defining Myrmicini, leading to considerable taxonomic instability. Earlier molecular phylogenetic studies have suggested the nonmonophyly of Myrmicini, but were based on limited taxon sampling. We investigated the composition of Myrmicini with phylogenetic analyses of an enlarged set of taxa, using DNA sequences of eight gene fragments taken from 37 representatives of six of the seven genera (Eutetramorium, Huberia, Hylomyrma, Manica, Myrmica, and Pogonomyrmex), and eight outgroups. Our results demonstrate the invalidity of Myrmicini as currently defined. We recovered sister‐group relationships between the genera Myrmica and Manica, and between Pogonomyrmex and Hylomyrma. This study illustrates that to understand the phylogeny of over 6000 myrmicine species, comprehensive taxon sampling and DNA sequencing are an absolute requisite. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 160 , 482–495.