Pseudomyrmex ferruginea
Pseudomyrmex ferruginea | |
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Worker | |
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Species: | P. ferruguinea
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Binomial name | |
Pseudomyrmex ferruginea |
The acacia ant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) is a species of
The ant and the acacia exemplify a
Description
P. ferruginea is an obligate plant ant that occupies at least five species of acacia (
Mutualistic symbiosis
To repel
The symbiotic relationship begins when a newly mated queen is attracted by the odour from the tree and starts nesting inside the large hollow acacia thorns. The queen nibbles into the thorn to lay 15–20 eggs to produce the first generation of workers. As the colony grows, more of the bulbous thorns get inhabited, and when the colony reaches some 400 individuals the ants start to act as gardeners.[2]
As gardeners, the ants aggressively attack creatures of all sizes attracted by the acacia leaves, killing insects such as
The development of myrmecophytism ("ant symbiosis") and spininess in African and New World acacia species was an adaptation to the presence of large faunas of effective browsing mammals. The ants' sting is very painful, causing a lasting burning and throbbing effect. The ants provide vital protection to the bullhorn acacias day and night, and it has been shown[6] that without the ants, Acacia cornigera suffer greater damage from attacking insects and tend to be overgrown by competing plant species.[4]
Life cycle
Nuptial flight occurs in warm weather at any time of the year. If an acacia thorn has not been opened by a previous occupant, the queen gnaws a circular hole to enter the thorn cavity. She lays 15 to 20 eggs and rears her first brood while remaining secluded inside the thorn. The population of the colony then increases to 150 workers within seven months, to 300 three months later, to 1,100 in two years, and to over 4,000 in three years.[4]
In young colonies workers leave the protective thorns to collect nectar and Beltian bodies, but only as long as necessary. At rare intervals they leave their thorns to occupy new ones. Males and virgin queens are produced during the second year. As the number of ants reaches 50–100, workers start patrolling the open plant surface next to their home thorn, and as the population reaches 200–400, workers become more aggressive and attack other smaller nearby colonies, ward off phytophagous insects that make landing attempts near the thorn more effectively.[4]
In old colonies the queen is
Larvae
The larvae are fed on unaltered fragments of Beltian bodies that are pushed deep into the larva's food pouch (the trophothylax, a pocket just behind the mouth). The larva then starts to rotate its head in and out of the pouch to chew the contents, while ejecting droplets of clear fluid possibly containing digestive enzyme into the pouch.[4]
Fragments that protrude from the pouch are removed by a worker and redistributed. Regularly, workers force open the pouch to regurgitate droplets of fluid into it. The nature of this fluid is uncertain. It is possible captured insects constitute a secondary source of nutrition to the larvae.[4]
Uses
In traditional Maya medicine, acacia ants are used to treat depression by forcing an ant to bite a vein several times, usually in the crook of the elbow.[7] The ants can also be crushed to form an oil which is applied to the chest to treat asthma.[7]
See also
- List of symbiotic relationships
- Acacia collinsii
- Myrmelachista schumanni
- Myrmecodia
Notes
- ^ Renthal et al. 2008
- ^ a b c d e Piper 2007, pp. 1–4
- ^ Janzen 1966
- ^ a b c d e f g Hölldobler & Wilson 1990, pp. 532–533
- ^ Armstrong n.d.
- ^ (Janzen 1966, 1967, 1969)
- ^ ISBN 9768142863.
References
- Armstrong, W.P. (n.d.). "Central American Swollen-Thorn Acacias". Wayne's Word.
- Hölldobler, Bert; Wilson, Edward O. (1990). The ants, Volym 514. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-04075-9.
- Janzen, Daniel H. (1966). "Coevolution of mutualism between ants and acacias in Central America". Evolution. 20 (3): 249–275. PMID 28562970.
- Renthal, Robert; Velasquez, Daniel; Olmos, David; David, S. Bradleigh; Vinson, S. Bradleigh (2008). "Occurrence of Antennal Glands in Ants". Microscopy Research and Technique. 71 (11): 787–791. PMID 18655135.
- Piper, Ross (2007). Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals. ISBN 978-0-313-33922-6.