Nest Recognition in the Ant, Leptothorax ambiguus Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Temnothorax crasecundus sp. n. – a cryptic Eurocaucasian ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) discovered by Nest Centroid Clustering

The paper integrates two independent studies of numeric morphology-based alpha-taxonomy of the cryptic ant species Temnothoraxcrassispinus (Karavajev, 1926) and Temnothoraxcrasecundus sp. n. conducted by different investigators, using different equipment, considering different character combinations and evaluating different samples. Samples investigated included 603 individual workers from 203 ...

Effect of aromatic cedar mulch on Argentine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) foraging activity and nest establishment.

In the laboratory, Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), mortality was positively correlated to the length of an aromatic cedar mulch section that had to be crossed before food could be reached. When ants could access food without crossing the mulch, mortality was not correlated to mulch section length. In the field, Argentine ants showed a tendency to avoid aromatic cedar mulch as a nestin...

Colony foundation, nest architecture and demography of a basal fungus-growing ant, Mycocepurus smithii (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

The genus Mycocepurus is a phylogenetically basal attine ant, so studies of its biology may provide insight into the evolution of behaviours associated with fungus-growing that characterize the tribe Attini. Mycocepurus smithii from Puerto Rico produces sexual females from July to September, but no males were observed in 2 years of observations, confirming previous observations elsewhere. Colon...

A North Florida Ant Fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Foraging behavior in the ant genus Messor (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae)

The genus Messor consists of 113 species of seed harvesting ants that are found in grasslands, semi-arid areas and savannahs in both the Old and New World. A full spectrum of foraging strategies occurs in Messor, ranging from individual to group foraging, with the latter having evolved several times. This paper reviews foraging strategies and the underlying behavioral mechanisms found in specie...