Notes on the Behavior of the Dimorphic Ant <i>Oligomyrmex Overbecki</i> (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Moffett, Mark W.

doi:10.1155/1986/62438

Cited by 12 publications

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References 2 publications

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“…Colonies can be large, e.g. colonies of C. overbecki and C. urichi contain up to 1000 individuals (minor and major workers), with the proportion of major workers approaching ten percent (Moffett 1986; Wilson 1962). Minor workers nurse the brood, and major workers defend the nest.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomy of the ant genus Carebara Westwood (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in the Malagasy Region

Azorsa¹,

Fisher²

2018

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The genus Carebara is revised for the Malagasy region, and based on the examination of over 10,000 specimens, twenty-three species are recognized. Twenty one of these are described as new (C. bara sp. n., C. berivelo sp. n., C. betsi sp. n., C. creolei sp. n., C. demeter sp. n., C. dota sp. n., C. hainteny sp. n., C. hiragasy sp. n., C. jajoby sp. n., C. kabosy sp. n., C. lova sp. n., C. mahafaly sp. n., C. malagasy sp. n., C. omasi sp. n., C. placida sp. n., C. raberi sp. n., C. salegi sp. n., C. sampi sp. n., C. tana sp. n., C. tanana sp. n., C. vazimba sp. n.), and two are redescribed, C. grandidieri Forel (= C. voeltzkowi Forel n. syn.) and C. nosindambo Forel. A lectotype is designated for C. nosindambo. C. creolei sp. n. is known only from Mauritius and Seychelles, C. grandidieri Forel is distributed in Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte, and the other twenty-one species are endemic to Madagascar. Most of the Carebara species recorded in this work are endemic to a specific habitat (ecoregion), but some of them (C. bara sp. n., C. grandidieri Forel, C. jajoby sp. n., C. kabosy sp. n., and C. nosindambo Forel) are widespread within Madagascar across all major habitats. The worker caste of Carebara can be differentiated from other genera in the Myrmicinae subfamily by the presence of the following combination of characters: antennae of eight to eleven segments, with a two-segmented club; anterior clypeal margin without central isolated seta (rarely present in some species or specimens), and usually with four distinct setae; mandibles with four to seven teeth (except in one species from Ghana - C. crigensis with three teeth); and palp formula 2,2 or 1,2. We report that almost all Carebara species found in the Malagasy region have intermediates (distinct forms) in the major worker subcaste, with the largest major workers showing remnants of queen flight sclerites and ocelli. The widespread presence of intermediates in the major worker subcaste expands the morphological boundaries of Carebara. We present an overview of the natural history of Carebara in the Malagasy region, an illustrated key for the identification of the known Malagasy species of Carebara, as well as high-resolution images and distribution maps. Unique identifiers are used for all specimens studied, including type material, and the raw data that forms the basis of this study are available on www.antweb.org (open access).

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomy of the ant genus Carebara Westwood (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in the Malagasy Region

Azorsa¹,

Fisher²

2018

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“… Acanthomyrmex , Camponotus , Cephalotes , Crematogaster , Pheidole ), and it is possible that the intermediates in Carebara are trophic specialists as in some of those genera (see Molet et al 2012 , and Peeters et al 2013 ). Studies of some Carebara species ( Carebara overbecki , Carebara urichi ) found that the colonies contain up to 1000 individuals (minor and major workers) and that the proportion of the major workers in one nest can approach ten percent ( Moffett 1986 , Wilson 1962 ). Smaller workers nurse the brood, and larger workers defend the nest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ant genus Carebara Westwood (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): synonymisation of Pheidologeton Mayr under Carebara, establishment and revision of the C. polita species group

Fischer¹,

Azorsa²,

Fisher³

2014

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In this paper the genus Pheidologeton Mayr, 1862 is synonymized under Carebara Westwood, 1840 and the Carebara polita group is established and revised. This species group currently includes six species from the Afrotropical region (C. madibai, C. nicotianae, C. perpusilla, C. polita, C. silvestrii, and C. villiersi) and two species from the Neotropical region (C. brevipilosa and C. urichi). The polita group clearly links Carebara and Pheidologeton, and, due to a lack of autapomorphic characters for the latter, a separation of the two genera is no longer justified. As a result Carebara is presented as a monophyletic and better defined genus that can be separated from other genera with more confidence. We present an overview of the distribution and biology of Carebara as well as images from the various genera currently in synonymy under Carebara, and discuss the characters they share. The polymorphism present in Afrotropical and Malagasy Carebara is discussed and one new species from Africa, C. madibai sp. n., is described. The subspecies Carebara perpusilla arnoldiana syn. n., Carebara perpusilla concedens syn. n., and Carebara perpusilla spinosa syn. n. are new synonyms of Carebara perpusilla. Oligomyrmex politus nicotianae is re-elevated to species level and transferred into Carebara, C. nicotianae comb. n., stat. rev.; C. punctata is a new synonym of C. silvestrii comb. n. and C. pygmaea albipes comb. n., syn n., C. pygmaea bugnioni comb. n., syn. n., and C. simularensis syn. n. are new synonyms of C. pygmaea comb. n.. The following names are transferred from Pheidologeton to Carebara as new combinations (with the species epithets adjusted to female endings where necessary): aberrans, affinis, affinis javana, affinis minor, affinis spinosior, affinis sumatrensis, ceylonensis, dentiviris, diversa, diversa draco, diversa ficta, diversa laotina, diversa macgregori, diversa philippina, diversa standfussi, diversa taprobanae, diversa tenuirugosa, diversa williamsi, hammoniae, hostilis, kunensis, latinoda, maccus, mayri, melanocephala, melasolena, nana, nanningensis, obscura, petulens, pullata, pungens, pygmaea, rubra, rugiceps, rugosa, schossnicensis, silena, silvestrii, solitaria, transversalis, trechideros, varia, vespilla, volsellata, yanoi, and zengchengensis. Three new combinations are creating secondary junior homonyms and are here replaced with new names: C. mayri (Santschi, 1928) = C. gustavmayri nom. n., C. rugosa (Karavaiev, 1935) = C. rugoflabella nom. n., and C. silvestrii (Wheeler, 1929b) = C. luzonensis nom. n. Two new combinations are creating secondary junior homonyms among species already in Carebara: C. taprobanae (Forel, 1911a) = C. sinhala nom. n., and C. nana Santschi, 1919 = C. pumilia nom. n.

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“…In dimorphic species, the major worker is regarded as a subcaste that specializes in several functions, such as nest defense (Detrain and Pasteels 1992;Wilson 1976), food milling (Wilson 1978) and food storage (Lachaud et al 1992;Tsuji 1990; Wilson 1974). The division of labour among subcastes has been investigated for many species of polymorphic ants (Busher et al 1985;Cole 1980;Mirenda and Vinson 1981 ;Moffet 1986Moffet , 1987Patel 1990;Villet 1990;Wilson 1976Wilson , 1978Wilson , 1980aWilson , b, 1984, but the studies have been limited to the aspects of caste optimization (Wilson 1980b), caste ratio regulation (Rissing 1987) and optimal caste ratio (Fowler 1987;Walker and Stamps 1986). Oster and Wilson (1978) contended that the caste system in a polymorphic species served to maximize the ergonomic efficiency of the colony.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest defense and early production of the major workers in the dimorphic ant Colobopsis nipponicus (Wheeler) (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

Hasegawa

1993

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Production of the major subcaste and its contribution to nest survival in the dimorphic ant Colobopsis nipponicus was examined in the field. In this species, the first major workers were reared in the second brood, very early in the colony life cycle. A field experiment demonstrated that artificial colonies without major workers could not survive, whereas colonies with at least one major worker per nest entrance could. Because major workers of C. nipponicus defend the nest entrance by head plugging, the lack of nest defenders in the experimental colonies seemed to be a major cause of nest failure. The defensive value of major workers was much higher than that of minor workers. Many artificial colonies without major workers were displaced by competitors for nest sites, especially by those of other conspecific colonies. In addition, more than 90% of field colonies nested with other conspecific colonies on the same tree.The early production of major workers in C. nipponicus seemed to be very important for the survival of incipient colonies.

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Notes on the Behavior of the Dimorphic Ant Oligomyrmex Overbecki (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 2 publications

Taxonomy of the ant genus Carebara Westwood (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in the Malagasy Region

Taxonomy of the ant genus Carebara Westwood (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in the Malagasy Region

The ant genus Carebara Westwood (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): synonymisation of Pheidologeton Mayr under Carebara, establishment and revision of the C. polita species group

Nest defense and early production of the major workers in the dimorphic ant Colobopsis nipponicus (Wheeler) (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

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