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Aenictogitoninae

Aenictogitoninae

7 species; see text. Aenictogitoninae is a very small subfamily of ants, containing seven species in the monotypic genus Aenictogiton. All of them are known only from males from middle Africa and show a phylogenetic affinity to the army ants (and are included in the dorylomorph subfamilies). Nothing is known about the workers, queens and behavior of these ants. A few undescribed species are known to exist in a few collections in the world.

Species

- Aenictogiton attenuatus Santschi, 1919
- Aenictogiton bequaerti Forel, 1913
- Aenictogiton elongatus Santschi, 1919
- Aenictogiton emeryi Forel, 1913
- Aenictogiton fossiceps Emery, 1901
- Aenictogiton schoutedeni Santschi, 1924
- Aenictogiton sulcatus Santschi, 1919 Category:Ants

Ant

Dorylomorph subfamilies
- Apomyrminae
- Cerapachyinae
- Dorylinae
- Ecitoninae Formicomorph subfamilies:
- Aneuretinae
- Dolichoderinae
- Formicinae - e.g. Formica Leptanillomorph subfamilies:
- Leptanillinae
- Leptanilloidinae Myrmeciomorph subfamilies:
- Myrmeciinae eg. Myrmecia
- Pseudomyrmecinae Myrmicomorph subfamilies:
- Agroecomyrmecinae
- Myrmicinae- e.g. Pheidole, Atta Poneromorph subfamilies:
- Amblyoponinae
- Ectatomminae
- Heteroponerinae
- Paraponerinae
- Ponerinae
- Proceratiinae Extinct subfamilies:
- Armaniinae
- Brownimeciinae
- Formiciinae
- Sphecomyrminae Incertae Sedis Subfamily:
- Paleosminthurinae Ants, one of the most successful groups of insects, are of particular interest because they form advanced colonies, and can constitute up to 15% of the total animal biomass of a tropical rainforest. They belong to the order Hymenoptera, and are close relatives of the vespoid wasps. Ants appearing in amber found in central New Jersey are believed to be from the Cretaceous period. It is thought that they evolved from the wasps that had appeared during the Jurassic period. They are morphologically distinguished mainly by having six legs, sharply elbowed antennae, wingless worker caste, the first abdominal segment being fused with the thorax (= alitrunk or mesosoma), a wasptail like constriction between the first and second abdominal segment, and by having one to two bead-like round to scale-shaped pedicel formed from the second and third abdominal segments respectively, which in wasps are joined to the gaster. Ants are also the only animals that possess the metapleural gland. They can sense with organs on the legs, antenna, thorax and head which can detect sound vibrations moving through the ground. Also, they communicate with chemicals, having at least 10–20 chemical "words". Most queens and males of ants have wings, which they lose after nuptial flight; however wingless queens (ergatoids) and males can occur. The currently known 11,836 (Aug. 29, 2005) ant species occur worldwide but are especially common in hot climates. 22,000 ant species are expected to live on planet Earth.

Development

wings Ants are holometabolous, and develop by complete metamorphosis, passing through larval and pupal stages before they become adults. The larval stage is particularly helpless - for instance it lacks legs entirely - because it does not need to care for itself. The difference between queens and workers, and between different castes of workers when they exist, is determined by feeding in the larval stage. Food is given to the larvae by a process called trophallaxis in which an ant regurgitates food previously held in its crop for communal storage. This is also how adults distribute food amongst themselves. Larvae and pupae need to be kept at fairly constant temperatures to ensure proper development, and so are often moved around various brood chambers within the colony. trophallaxis A new worker spends the first few days of its adult life caring for the queen and young. After that it graduates to digging and other nest work, and then to foraging and defense of the nest. These changes are fairly abrupt and define what are called temporal castes. One theory of why this occurs is because foraging has a high death rate, so ants only participate in it when they are older and closer to death anyway. In a few ants there are also physical castes - workers come in a spectrum of sizes, called minor, median, and major workers, the latter beginning foraging sooner. Often the larger ants will have disproportionately larger heads, and so stronger mandibles. Such individuals are sometimes called "soldier" ants because their stronger mandibles make them more effective in fighting other creatures, although they are still in fact worker ants and their "duties" typically do not vary greatly from the minor or median workers. In a few species the median workers have disappeared, creating a sharp divide and clear physical difference between the minors and majors. Most of the common ant species breed in the same way. All ants in the colonies are females to begin with, but only the Queen and breeding females have the ability to mate. Contrary to popular belief, some ant nests have multiple queens. The male ants, called drones, along with the breeding females are born with wings, and do nothing throughout their life except eat, at least until the time for mating comes. At this time, all the breeding ants in the colony are carried outside (save for the queen) where other colonies of similar species are doing the same. Then, all the winged breeding ants take flight. Mating occurs in flight and the males die shortly afterward. The females that survive land and seek a suitable place to begin a colony. There, they break off their own wings and begin to lay eggs, which they care for. The first workers to hatch are weak and smaller than later workers, but they begin to serve the colony immediately. They enlarge the nest, forage for food and care for the other eggs. This is how a new colony starts.

Communication and behavior

mandible Ant communication is primarily through chemicals called pheromones. Because most ants spend their time in direct contact with the ground, these chemical messages are more developed than in other Hymenopterans. So, for instance, when a forager finds food on its way home (found typically through remembered landmarks and the position of the sun), it will leave a trail along the ground, which in a short time other ants will follow. When they return home they will reinforce the trail, bringing other ants, until the food is exhausted, after which the trail is not reinforced and so slowly dissipates. A crushed ant will emit an alarm pheromone, that in high concentration sends other ants nearby into an attack frenzy, and in lower concentration attracts them, while a few ants use what are called propaganda pheromones to confuse their enemies. Ant trails have no intrinsic polarity; that is to say, an ant walking on a straight non-branching trail cannot tell whether it is walking to or from the nest. Trails always divide as a "Y", with the two secondary trails at a 60 degree angle to each other, and it is the geometry at trail junctions that give ant trails polarity. (Jackson et al, 2004) Like other insects, ants smell with their antennae, which are long and thin. These are fairly mobile, having a distinct elbow joint after an elongated first segment, and since they come in pairs they provide information about direction as well as intensity. Pheromones are also exchanged as compounds mixed in with the food interchanged in trophallaxis, giving the ants information about one another's health and nutrition. Ants can also detect what task group (e.g. foraging or nest maintenance) other ants belong to. Of special note, the queen produces a special pheromone without which the workers will begin raising new queens. Ants attack and defend themselves by biting, and in many species, stinging, in both cases sometimes injecting chemicals into the target. Of special note here is formic acid.

Types

There is a great diversity among ants and their behaviors. They range in size from 2 to about 25 millimetres (about 0.08 to 1 inch). Their colour may vary, most are red or black, but other colours can also be seen. A few types, such as the genus Pheidole of North America, have a metallic lustre. See list of ant genera (alphabetical) for an alphabetical compendium of worldwide ant genera, and [http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu:210/hymenoptera/nomenclator.name_entry?text_entry=formicidae&Submit=Submit+Query antbase.org/Hymenoptera Name Server]for a complete catalogue of all the currently known ant species of the world and their synonyms. Antbase.org/Hymenoptera Name Server is providing an [http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu:210/hymenoptera/tsa.sppcount?the_taxon=Formicidae up to date record of the actual number of species], and allows to follow [http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu:210/hymenoptera/manage_lit.new_taxa_by_year?tnuid=152&the_year=2005 the description of new taxa]. Of special note:
- Some of the more advanced ants are the army ants and driver ants, from South America and Africa respectively. Unlike most species which have permanent nests, army and driver ants do not form permanent nests, but instead alternate between nomadic stages and stages where the workers form a temporary nest (bivouac) out of their own bodies. Colonies reproduce either through nuptial flights as described above, or by fission, where a group of workers simply dig a new hole and raise new queens. Colony members are distinguished by smell, and other intruders are usually attacked, with notable exceptions.
- Some ants will raid the colonies of other ants, taking the pupae with them, which once hatched act as workers in the raider's colonies despite not being genetically related to the queen. A few species, such as the Amazon ants (e.g. Polyergus rufescens), have become utterly dependent on such slaves, to the point of being otherwise unable to feed themselves.
- Some ants, called honeypot ants, have special workers called repletes who simply store food for the rest of the colony, generally becoming immobile with greatly enlarged abdomens. In hot, dry places, even deserts, in Africa, North America and Australia where they live they are considered a great delicacy.
- Weaver ants (Oecophylla) build nest in trees by attaching leaves together, first pulling them together with bridges of workers and then sewing them together by pressing silk-producing larvae against them in alternation.
- Leafcutter ants (Atta and Acromyrmex) feed exclusively on a special fungus that lives only within their colonies. They continually collect leaves which they cut into tiny pieces for the fungus to grow on. These ants have several differently sized castes especially for cutting up the pieces they are supplied with into even smaller pieces. Leaf cutter ants are sensitive enough to adapt to the fungi's reaction to different plant material, apparantly detecting chemical signals from the fungus. If a particular type of leaf is toxic to the fungus the colony will no longer collect it. The ants grow the fungus because it produces special structures called gongylidia which are fed on by the ants.
- Fire ants are unique by having a poison sac where the contents consists largely of piperidine alkaloids.
- Silver ants navigate by using their eyes instead of pheromones to find their way back home.
- Some ants are equipped with mandibles called trap-jaws. This snap-jaw mechanism, or catapult mechanism, is possible because energy is stored in the large closing muscles. The blow is incredibly fast, about 0.5 ms in the genus Mystrium. Before the strike, the mandibles opens wide and are locked in the open position by the labrum, which functions as a latch. The attack is triggered by stimulation of sensory hairs at the side of the mandibles. The mandibles are also able to function as a tool for more finely adjusted tasks. Other groups other than Mystrium are Odontomachus and Dacetini, examples on convergent evolution.
- Australian green ants are eaten by the aboriginals.Their abdomen tastes like lemon sherbet, are high in vitamin C and have antibiotic properties. Squashed green ants mashed in water makes up an excellent lemon-lime flavored drink.
- The Australian bulldog ant Myrmecia pilosula has only a single pair of chromosomes. Males have just one chromosome since they, like all male Hymenopterans, are haploid.

Symbiotic relationships with ants

- Aphids secrete a sweet liquid called honeydew. Normally this is allowed to fall to the ground, but around ants it is kept for them to collect. The ants in turn keep predators away and will move the aphids around to better feeding locations.
- Myrmecophilous or ant-loving caterpillars (blues, coppers, or hairstreaks) are herded by the ants, led to feeding areas in the daytime and brought inside the ants nest at night. The caterpillars have a gland which secretes honeydew if the ants massage them.
- Some myrmecophagous (ant-eating) caterpillars secrete a pheromone which makes the ants think the larva is one of their own. The caterpillars will then be taken into the ants' nest where they can feed on the ant larvae.
- Allomerus decemarticulatus has developed a tripartite association with their host plant and a fungus in order to ambush their prey.

Humans and ants

Ants are useful for clearing out insect pests and aerating the soil. On the other hand, they can become annoyances when they invade homes, yards, gardens and fields. Carpenter ants damage wood by hollowing it out for nesting. Nests may be destroyed by tracing the ants' trails back to the nest, then pouring boiling water into it to kill the queen. (Killing individual ants is less than effective due to the secretion of pheromones mentioned above). Ordinary chalk can be used to keep ants at bay; drawing a line or circle around the protected area may prevent them from entering. Some species, called killer ants, have a tendency to attack much larger animals during foraging or in defending their nests. Human attacks are rare, but the stings and bites can be quite painful and in large enough numbers can be disabling. Ants have often been used in fables and children's stories to represent industriousness and cooperative effort, as well as aggressiveness and vindictiveness. In parts of Africa, ants are the messengers of the gods. Ant bites are often said to have curative properties. Some Native American religions, such as Hopi mythology, recognize ants as the very first animals. Others use ant bites in initiation ceremonies as a test of endurance. Termites, sometimes called "white ants," are in fact not closely related to ants, though they have a somewhat similar social structure. They comprise the order Isoptera. Image:WeaverAntsNest.JPG|Weaver ants nest image:leaf.ants.600pix.jpg|Leaf-cutting ants (Atta sp. or Acromyrmex sp.) on the journey back to the nest. image:ant_SEM.jpg|Electron microscope image of an ant's head Image:Ant cultivating aphids.jpg|Ant cultivating aphids Image:Ant_hill.jpg|Ants on ant hill Image:Ants cleaning dead snake.jpg|Ants cleaning out a dead snake Image:Ant trail.jpg|An ant trail Image:Ant on mosshill02.jpg|Ant on mosshill

External links

- [http://www.antbase.org/ Antbase, The complete catalogue of all ants of the world linked to all available full text systematics publications (>4,000), links, pictures, etc.]
- [http://antfarm.ma.cx The Ant Farm: A personal Web site on ants and with an Ant Farm theme]
- [http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/read/AntsFAQ.txt The Ants FAQ]
- [http://www.antweb.org/ AntWeb, Images of more than 4,000 specimens including all ant genera, specfic coverages for California (complete), Florida and Madagascar.]
- [http://www.bwars.com/ Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society] (UK)
- [http://go.ezboard.com/bantfarm The Ant Farm's and Myrmecology's Message Board]
- [http://www.myrmecology.info/portal/news.php Myrmecology Portal: Everything about ants]
- [http://www.myrmecos.net/ Myrmecos: An Extensive Living Ant Photo Gallery]
- [http://members.aol.com/yesclub2/blants.html A good overview of ants, with details about selected species]
- [http://www.dannyreviews.com/h/Ants.html The only professional science work to have won a Pulitzer Prize — for general nonfiction in 1991 — The Ants]
- [http://www.lasius.narod.ru/ www.lasius.narod.ru: Russian Ant Site and Photo Gallery] (Russian language)
- [http://www.bluesquaregroup.de/ameisen/en/ Project: How strong are woodants in reality?]
- [http://mimikologija.blog.hr/ Project:Ants in Trerarium] (Croatian language)
- [http://www.macro-photo.org/species-checklist-arthropods-insects-birds-avians/ants-formicidae-macro-photo-images-gallery.htm Macro Photography — closeup pictures of Ants]
- [http://www.movie-monsters.co.uk/empire_of_the_ants.html Empire of the Ants (1977) an abysmal film with Joan Collins and some patently false ants]
- [http://www.tightloop.com/ants Ants of Arizona - Many photographs of ants]

References

- Agosti, D., Majer, J.D., Alonso, L.E., Schultz, T.R. (eds.) (2000). Ants: Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press. 280 pp.
- [http://antbase.org/ants/publications/8419/8419.pdf Grimaldi, D., Agosti, D., Carpenter, J.M. (1997). New and resdiscovered primitive ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey, and their phylogenetic relationships. American Museum Novitates 3208: 43pp, 24 figs., 1 tab.]
- Jackson DE, Holcombe M, Ratnieks FLW (2004). Trail geometry gives polarity to ant foraging networks. Nature 432: 907-909. Category:Insects ko:개미 ja:アリ simple:Ant

Genus

In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically similar species. In the common binomial nomenclature, the name of an organism is composed of two parts: its genus (always capitalized) and a species modifier. An example is Homo sapiens, the name for the human species which belongs to the genus Homo. See scientific classification for more details of this system. The type genus of a taxon is usually the first genus to be named and described. Families, and in plants all taxa up to division, are named after the type genus. The genus and these higher taxa are typified by a specimen that shows the characteristics of the genus. The specimen used to describe this species is preserved as the holotype and designated as a generitype in a zoological museum or a herbarium to be available for further study. A generic name in one kingdom is allowed to bear the same name as a genus or other taxon name in another kingdom (though this is discouraged by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature). For instance, Anura is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae and the order of frogs; Aotus is the genus of golden peas and night monkeys; Oenanthe is the genus of wheatears and water dropworts, and Prunella is the genus of accentors and self-heal. It is, however, not allowed for two genera within the same kingdom to have the same name. This explains why the platypus genus is Ornithorhynchus — although the name Platypus was chosen by George Shaw in 1799, that name had already been given to the ambrosia beetle by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. Since beetles and platypuses are both member of the kingdom Animalia, the name Platypus could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800.

Phylogeny

In biology, phylogenetics (Greek: phylon = tribe, race and genetikos = relative to birth, from genesis = birth) is the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms (e.g., species, populations). Phylogenetics, also known as phylogenetic systematics, treats a species as a group of lineage-connected individuals over time. Phylogenetic taxonomy, which is an offshoot of, but not a logical consequence of, phylogenetic systematics, constitutes a means of classifying groups of organisms according to degree of evolutionary relatedness. Phylogeny (or phylogenesis) is the origin and evolution of a set of organisms, usually a set of species. A major task of systematics is to determine the ancestral relationships among known species (both living and extinct). The most commonly used methods to infer phylogenies include cladistics, phenetics, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. These last two depend upon a mathematical model describing the evolution of characters observed in the species included, and are usually used for molecular phylogeny where the characters are aligned nucleotide or amino acid sequences. During the late 19th century, Ernst Haeckel's recapitulation theory, or biogenetic law, was widely accepted. This theory was often expressed as "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", i.e. the development of an organism exactly mirrors the evolutionary development of the species. The early version of this hypothesis has since been rejected as being oversimplified. However, most modern biologists recognize numerous connections between ontogeny and phylogeny, explain them using evolutionary theory, or view them as supporting evidence for that theory.

External links

- [http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html The Tree of Life]
- [http://www.ohiou.edu/phylocode/ PhyloCode] Category:Phylogenetics

Felix Santschi

Felix Santschi (1872 - 1940) was a Swiss entomologist. Santschi is known for his pioneering work on the navigational abilities of ants. In one experiment, he investigated the way harvester ants used the sky to navigate. He found that as long as even a small patch of sky was visible, the ants could return directly to the nest after gathering food. However, when the sky was completely hidden, they lost their sense of direction and began moving haphazardly. Some fifty years later Karl von Frisch found the explanation when he discovered that ants are guided by the polarization of light.

External links

- [http://www.emporia.edu/ksn/v45n4-july1999/sect03.htm] research on carpenter ants.

References

- [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/oct/articles24.htm Harvester ant navigation experiment] Santschi, Felix Santschi, Felix Santschi, Felix

Auguste-Henri Forel

Auguste-Henri Forel (September 1, 1848 - July 27, 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist and psychiatrist, notable for his investigations into the brain structure of humans and ants. Born in LaGracieuse, near Morges, Switzerland, he was a good friend of the eminent British entomologist Horace Donisthorpe, although his ardent socialist views frequently caused political arguments between the two. His myrmecological 5-volume magnum opus, Le Monde Social des Forimis published in 1923, Donisthorpe heavily criticises in the foreward to the 1927 edition of British Ants: their life histories and classification, saying of the work: "This, although in many ways a fine work, is somewhat disappointing in that it is not up to date, and that the opportunity has been made for airing the author's socialistic views. I should wish in particular to protest against the ants being employed as a supposed weapon in political controversy. In my opinion an entomological work is not the appropriate means for the introduction of political theories of any kind, still less for their glaring advertisement." In the field of his psychiatric work he was also are great import, being a significant influence on Sigmund Freud. He was appointed professor of psychiatry in 1879 at the University of Zurich Medical School. He not only ran the Burghölzli asylum there, but continued to publish papers on insanity, prison reform, and social morality. Forel suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right side in 1912, but taught himself to write with his left hand and was able to continue his studies. In 1920 he became a member of the Bahá'í Faith, out of respect for it social work and because it lacked "dogmas or priests." He died in Yvorne in 1931. Forel, Auguste Forel, Auguste Forel, Auguste Forel, Auguste Forel, Auguste Forel, Auguste Forel, Auguste

Felix Santschi

External links

- [http://www.emporia.edu/ksn/v45n4-july1999/sect03.htm] research on carpenter ants.

References

- [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/oct/articles24.htm Harvester ant navigation experiment] Santschi, Felix Santschi, Felix Santschi, Felix

Auguste-Henri Forel

Felix Santschi

External links

- [http://www.emporia.edu/ksn/v45n4-july1999/sect03.htm] research on carpenter ants.

References

- [http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/oct/articles24.htm Harvester ant navigation experiment] Santschi, Felix Santschi, Felix Santschi, Felix

Category:Ants

This is the category of ants. Category:Aculeate Hymenoptera Category:Myrmecology

Houston Street

:Houston Street redirects here. For the Major League Baseball player with a similar name, see Huston Street. Houston Street is a large thoroughfare running east - west north of the downtown area of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, one block south of 1st Street. It serves as the dividing line between Greenwich Village and SoHo on the West Side and between the East Village and the Lower East Side on the East Side. In 1891, Nikola Tesla established his Houston Street laboratory. Tesla lit vacuum tubes wirelessly in the lab, providing evidence for the potential of wireless power transmission. By 1892, Tesla experimented with certain X-ray characteristics. He performed several experiments (including taking photographs of the bones of his hand). Much of Tesla's research was lost in the 1895 Houston Street lab fire. The street was widened in the late 19th century, which resulted in numerous small empty lots on both sides of the street where buildings were demolished. These lots are now used by vendors and some have been turned into community gardens. The street name Houston (pronounced ) confuses many people from outside of New York (invariably becoming one of the easiest signs of spotting tourists) because the letters "ou" are pronounced as in the word house, whereas the same letters in the name of the city of Houston, Texas (pronounced ) are pronounced like the "u" in huge. This is due to the fact that Houston Street was named for a Georgia politician, William Houstoun (1755-1813) (note that the spelling is different), long before the fame of Sam Houston, for whom the city in Texas is named. New Yorkers pronounce the city of Houston in the manner of the latter.

External links

- Knight, Sam. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/nyregion/thecity/17hous.html?ex=1255752000&en=564ad37de237065f&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland What a Street! (But Do You Ever Remember Being There?)] New York Times, October 17, 2004. Category:Streets in Manhattan Category:Nikola Tesla

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Aenictogitoninae

Species

Ant

Development

Communication and behavior

Types

Symbiotic relationships with ants

Humans and ants

See also

External links

References

Genus

See also

Phylogeny

See also

External links

Felix Santschi

External links

References

Auguste-Henri Forel

Felix Santschi

External links

References

Auguste-Henri Forel

Felix Santschi

External links

References

Category:Ants

Houston Street

External links