Wild About Ants » Ant Facts

Where to Find Queen Ants

Roberta — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:49:05 +0000

Many people want to know where they can find a queen ant.

Here in Phoenix the ant nests are filled with alates (winged ants) ready to swarm in late July and August.

In the day or so after a strong thundershower, called “monsoons” here, it is easy to find queens running across the ground looking for spots to nest.

This week I found a great place to hunt – tennis courts. As the bright overhead lights came on in the evening after a big storm the night before, the queens ants themselves started to rain down. I collected queens of three different species in ten minutes. I wasn’t too interested in the rover ant queens, but noticed they were mating right there on the tennis court. It was amazing.

Unfortunately my tennis buddies were not as thrilled as I was, so I didn’t get a chance to observe as much as I would have liked. You can guess where I’ll hanging out be next time it rains.

Ever found queen ants attracted to the big lights at sporting events?

Where to Get Fluon

Roberta — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:35:31 +0000

Now here’s a well kept secret:

Do you know about fluon, the slippery white material that is essential to keep ants where you want them (at least as much as possible)?

It is available at that old standby of insect supplies, BioQuip as

Insect-A-Slip Insect Barrier – Fluon

It isn’t cheap, but you don’t need very much.

Yeah BioQuip!!!

More on Ant Stridulation

Roberta — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:19:26 +0000

Awhile ago I did a post about ant stridulation or ants communicating via sound. I recently found a couple more recordings of ants.

The first is a short piece on recording ants for KUER radio in Utah. Dr. Bernie Krause, a bioacoustician, talks about his experience recording in Cherry Creek, AZ in Western Soundscapes: Ants with ant sounds in the background. Unfortunately, he does not identify the ants.

Entomologist Hayward Spangler talks about a novel way of using his teeth as a way to pick up harvest ant stridulations. You can listen and download a mp3 file at NPR: Listening to Ants or listen here to same recording. (In case one of the links breaks in the future.)

You can also hear a recording of the harvester ant stridulations at Western Soundscape Archive

I just can’t get enough of listening to ants. How about you?

Where do ants go in the winter?

Roberta — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:13:32 +0000

Once again, our post has been inspired by a children’s book. This time it is Bugs and Bugsicles: Insects in the Winter by Amy S. Hansen and Robert C. Kray (illustrator). The authors follow different insects, including pavement ants, as they prepare for winter. I posted a review of this book at Wrapped In Foil and insects in winter activities at Growing With Science.

When you see ants and other insects coming out in the spring, you may wonder “Where do ants spend the winter?” The answer is, it all depends on where in the world the ants live, and which of the over 12,000 species you are studying.

Where below-freezing temperatures are common, ants exhibit a number of strategies to get by.

Under the ground:

Some ants, like wood ants (Formica), can adjust the structure of their nests to help regulate the internal temperature. The huge mounds act as solar-collectors, increasing the temperature inside. When it becomes too cold, wood ants retreat to deep underground, below the frost line.

In wood:
Camponotus carpenter ants, live in nests in wood. Although wood is a good insulator, it still freezes inside during the winter. Carpenter ant species that live in temperate climates must have a provision for overwintering. The ants enter a state of slowed metabolism called “diapause.” Generally, the queen stops laying eggs. The workers develop large fat bodies, which can be seen as their gasters swell in size. The workers begin to aggregate more than before. In the two species I studied in upstate New York, Camponotus pennsylvanicus and Camponotus novaeboracensis, the larval stage also overwintered in the nest, but pupae and eggs did not.

Although I kept my laboratory colonies at constant temperatures and light conditions, they still periodically went into diapause. It appeared that colonies required exposure to temperatures below 15° C for about 60 days to exit diapause. Without cold temperatures, the colonies would remain in a suspended state for extended periods.

In acorns:
Acorn ants spend the winter inside acorns on the ground. These tiny ants form small colonies. When Joan Herbers and Christine Johnson took a look at how the colonies did over winter, they found low survivorship overall. Why do the ants stick it out in acorns instead of heading underground? Some evidence suggests that by spring acorns are relatively rare, and by staying inside their prize home over winter, the acorn ants are assured of a summer home. (for acorn activities for kids, see Growing With Science).

Winter ants

One species of ant, Prenolepis imparis, has earned itself the name of winter ant because it is often out foraging in temperatures near freezing. Walter Tschinkel showed that in northern Florida these ants actually are active from November to March and then workers seal up their underground nests and don’t come out until the following fall. Leave it to a species of ant to do things completely the opposite to most other insects.

Photograph of Prenolepis imparis from antweb.org (No photographer named)

No winter?

Ants that live in the tropics or hot climates don’t tend to react much to winter, although they may shut down temporarily during a dry or wet season instead. Some ants have extensive nests with elaborate ventilation systems, where the environment inside has uniform temperature and humidity year around. Now that’s the way to live.

Are ants active where you live yet?

References:

Joan M. Herbers and Christine A. Johnson. 2007. Social structure and winter survival in acorn ants. Oikos. 116(5): 829-835.

Tauber, MJ, CA Tauber and S. Masaki. 1986. Seasonal adaptations in insects. Oxford University Press, New York.

Walter R. Tschinkel. 1987. Seasonal life history and nest architecture of a winter-active ant, Prenolepis imparis. Insectes Sociaux. 34(3): 143-164.

Filaree

Roberta — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:36:11 +0000

This is a filaree plant (Genus Erodium). We have a great crop in our yard this year.

It is sometimes called heron’s bill or stork’s bill because of its oddly shaped fruit.

The seed pods twist as they mature.

Apparently, the seeds are a source of food for harvester ants. We’ll see what the fire ants do.

See for example (you’ll need to scroll down): 5. Harvester Ants (Messor) & Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)

Swimming Ants

Roberta — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:20:07 +0000

I saw some ants in the water in a lake last weekend, which led me to ask the question: Can ants swim?

Early investigators in the 1800’s did some simple studies by immersing ants in water and found that ants can survive underwater for long periods of time. Thus, ants can hold their breath, a not very exciting finding. More recent studies, however, reveal some ant species can truly swim.

Scientists in New North Queensland found a species of ant that nest in submerged mangroves. The ants hide in air pockets, but can also swim underwater. In fact, the researcher reported he wanted to film an ant, so he put it on a rock in a puddle to keep it confined until he was ready. The ant simply jumped into the water and swam away.

Another astounding example of swimming ants is the tiny ants that paddle around in the liquid inside a pitcher plant. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants, which means they trap insects inside a jar-shaped pitcher. Once inside, the insects decompose in a pool of the plant’s digestive juices. The plant can then use the resulting ooze as fertilizer, or food, for itself.

The pitcher plant ants swim through this deadly liquid unharmed. Working together, several ants drag out some of the insects trapped inside and use them for food for their own colony. Does the plant regard this as thievery? Scientists think the ants are actually performing a service, because if too many insects fall into the pitcher the liquid can get rotten and harm the plant. In fact, the ants live in specialized hollow tendrils and drink nectar, both provided by the pitcher plant. How do these amazing ants survive the digestive fluid and climb back out of the pitcher when no other insects can?

Fire ants are known for their ability to form floating rafts of living ants, to move from place to place during floods. Here’s a video from the BBC of a fire ant raft:

Well, I guess I didn’t discover anything new. But next time I’d love to get swimming ants on video.

Did you know that some ants can swim?

Edit: (Do I need to add a “never try this at home” message?)

For more information, try:
C. M. Clarke and R. L. Kitching. Swimming Ants and Pitcher Plants: A Unique Ant-Plant Interaction from Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Nov., 1995), pp. 589-602.

Scientists Discover Swimming Ants from ABC Online

MARK B. DuBOIS, RUDOLF JANDER Leg coordination and swimming in an ant, Camponotus americanus. Physiological Entomology, Volume 10 Issue 3, Pages 267 - 270
Published Online: 13 Mar 2008

Harvester Ant Nest Midden

Roberta — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:02:10 +0000

During a quick hike through South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona yesterday, I spotted a Messor Pogonomyrmex rugosus harvester ant mound.

The refuse or midden pile was covered with a fluffy material.

The ants apparently have been collecting the seeds of this plant, and discarding the seed coats.

It is a common plant in the Sonoran desert. Do you know what it is?

The plant is a food source to a range of insects as well as Messor harvester ants, including more than 20 species of bees.

It is the common creosote bush, Larrea tridentata.

The midden piles of harvester ants, as with many other types of ants, are known to improve the nutrient levels in the soil in the immediate area.

Tomorrow I will post more about Messor harvester ants.

Hum, now that I think about it, I wonder if “midden piles” is redundant, because midden is a trash heap. Anyone out there help me out on this?

Edit: Thanks to Alex Wild for pointing out that these ants were Pogonomyrmex rugosus, not Messor.

Edit: Here’s a photo of Pogonomyrmex rugosus.

For more information, try:

Desert Harvester Ant, Messor pergandei

Dale Ward has some videos of Messor pergandei in action, as well as more information

More about cresote bush and the Zygophyllaceae (caltrop family) at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Ant Queens and New Colonies

Roberta — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:18:13 +0000

When I am acting as the “Consult-Ant” and answering questions about ant farms, people are generally interested in finding out more about ant queens.

When an ant colony is ready to branch out, the current queen lays eggs that develop into males or new queens instead of workers. Adult male ants are winged, and have small heads and slender bodies. They can easily be mistaken for wasps.

Newly emerged queens are larger than both males and workers, and have four wings.

When conditions are just right, such as after a summer thundershower, the males and new queens fly from the nest. The whole colony is in a tizzy when this happens. Worker ants gush from the nest entrance and mill around. Winged males and queens climb up on grass stalks, trees, or anything tall in the area.

In many species, the winged queens and males fly to meet with males and queens of the same species of ant from other nests. They enter what is called a mating swarm, a swirling cloud of flying and mating insects.

After mating, the males drop to the ground and soon die. The new queens, the ones that escape being eaten that is, also drop to the ground. The queens quickly pull off their wings by rubbing them between the back of their body and their hind legs, twisting and tugging. Once the wings are off, they quickly hide themselves. Ground-nesting ant queens tunnel into the soil while other types of queens may slip into cracks in the bark of logs or creep under nearby rocks. There a queen makes a safe chamber to start her new colony.

You can tell she’s a queen because of the scars on her trunk (middle section) where her wings were.

The queen will lay eggs that develop into tiny worker ants, and a new colony is born.

Have you ever seen swarming ants?

The theme today for Life Photo Meme at Adventures of a Free Range Urban Primate blog is “reproduction.”

Ant Species With Female Parthenogenesis?

Roberta — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:58:28 +0000

Have you heard the buzz about the fungus-gardening ant, Mycocepurus smithii? Apparently the queens can crank out workers and new queens without fertilization of the eggs. Genetic studies have shown the workers to be clones of their queen mother. No males have ever been found in nature, and laboratory colonies can’t be induced to make males either. Although in haplodiploid species males are usually generated without fertilization, this may be the first case of female ants being produced this way.

Parthenogenesis is the development of individuals from an egg that has not been fertilized. Although more commonly known from aphids, a number of species of Hymenoptera are parthenogenetic as well. Recent studies have shown in some of these cases the absence of males is due to infection by a bacteria, such as Wolbachia. The ant researchers indicate that bacterial infection isn’t the case in Mycocepurus smithii.

The consequences of asexual reproduction in these fungus-gardening ants are still under debate. Scientist Anna Himler has already suggested that there is a link between the ants and the fungus that grows in their gardens, because the fungus also reproduces asexually. We will probably hear more as these ants will certainly be given closer scrutiny.

Photographer: April Nobile/antweb.org from Wikimedia Commons

Here’s a great photograph of Mycocepurus smithii at myrmecos.net

References:
The University of Texas at Austin News: Ant Has Given Up Sex Completely, Report Texas Researchers

No sex in fungus-farming ants or their crops
Anna G. Himler, Eric J. Caldera, Boris C. Baer, Hermógenes Fernández-Marín and Ulrich G. Mueller
Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Ants inhabit ‘world without sex‘ by Victoria Gill, Science reporter, BBC News

Slave Ants

Roberta — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:49:22 +0000

Aren’t different kinds of ants supposed to fight? Why are these red and black ants are working together?

Mark Moffett shows us why in this video entitled Pirates of the Sagehen, taken at UC Berkeley’s Sagehen Creek Field Station.