Harpegnathos saltator

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Jerdon's jumping ant
Worker H. saltator killing a queen in an inter-colony conflict
Worker H. saltator killing a queen in an inter-colony conflict
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Genus: Harpegnathos
Species: H. saltator
Binomial name
Harpegnathos saltator
(T. C. Jerdon, 1851)

Harpegnathos saltator, sometimes called Jerdon's jumping ant, is a species of ant found in India. They have long mandibles and have the ability to leap a few inches.[1]

Contents

[edit] Habits

Unlike other ants, they are seen singly or in small groups and their colonies consist of very small numbers of individuals. They are also interesting among ants in that the queen-worker difference is very limited and some workers can mate and lay fertilized eggs just like the queen.[2] These workers are termed gamergates. New colonies are founded independently by single queens, and on aging they are replaced by several gamergates.[3] The gamergates copulate with males from their own colonies and being inbred are related to the original founding queen. Colonies being very small, they never undergo fission to form new colonies.

The workers control the number of reproductives in the colony and will kill some of the gamergates (as in taxobox image). [4][5] Workers use alarm pheromones which include 4-methyl-3-heptanone, 4-methyl-3-heptanol and isopentyl isopentanoate.[6] H. saltator, like many species of ant produces 4-methyl-3-heptanone from mandibular glands. Dufour's gland secretions have been found to include a complex mixture of linear hydrocarbons from C15 to C25 with (Z)-9-tricosene being the main constituent along with other minor constituents like tetradecyl propionate and traces of tetradecyl acetate and dodecyl acetate. The postpharyngeal glands and cuticular wax includes methyl esters of common fatty acids.[5]

Their leaps are accomplished by synchronized abduction of the middle and hind pairs of legs. They can jump up to 2 cm high and 10 cm long. These leaps are made not only to escape, but also to catch flying prey.[1] The workers forage only during the cool hours of the morning and afternoon with a lull in activity during mid day.[7]

The nest entrance is usually a low mound on the ground with the entrance surrounded by twigs and leaves. The nest entrance is closed by the ants in the evening and reopened in the day. The main chamber has a funnel like opening in the antechamber and this structure is believed to prevent flooding of the main chamber.[8]

[edit] Description

Possible colony life cycles based on Peeters and Holldobler (1995)
Possible colony life cycles based on Peeters and Holldobler (1995)[9]

The following is the original description by T. C. Jerdon.[10]

“ Worker, head long, granulated; jaws with a strong tooth near the base pointing downwards and inwards, and thence gradually tapering to the tip, and finely serrated, 1-6th of an inch long; thorax barely grooved; abdominal pedicle small, low, ovate; abdomen very long; sting large; head and abdomen blackish brown, thorax and legs rufous - Length 3/4 of an inch.
I have not seen this remarkable Ant in the Carnatic. I first saw it at Tellicherry, and subsequently in other parts of Malabar. It is also found in the Mysore country as I learn from Mr. Hamilton, a most talented and industrious Amateur Entomologist.
I have given it the name of saltator from its power of making most surprising jumps which it does when alarmed or disturbed. It is very pugnacious, and bites, and stings very severely. It makes its nest under ground, generally about the roots of some plant. Its society does not consist of many individuals. It appears to feed on insects, which it often seizes alive.		 ”

The following is the taxonomic description from C. T. Bingham's Fauna of British India (Hymenoptera - Volume 2):

  • worker: Head, thorax and pedicel ferruginous red, closely and rather coarsely punctured, granulate ; abdomen black, shining, not granulate, with punctures finer and more scattered ; mandibles, antennae and legs yellow ; the whole insect covered with short, sparse, erect pale hairs, and a minute, fine, sericeous shining pubescence on the mandibles, head, antennae, thorax and legs, visible only in certain lights. For the rest the characters of the genus.
  • queen: Similar to the worker; the ocelli placed very low down, almost in the middle of the front of the head.
  • male: Mandibles short, triangular, rather wide, but not elongate. Head somewhat longer than broad, strongly constricted behind the eyes and up to the occipital articulation. Concavity in front shorter and broader than in D. venator. Posterior face of the metanotum strongly margined. First abdominal segment pyriform elongate as in D. venator. No constriction between the basal two segments. A small median carina behind the occiput. Smooth and shining. Metanotum, pedicel and a part of the sides of the mesonotum coarsely rugose. Some foveae or obsolete striae on the rest of the thorax. Pilosity as in D. venator. Reddish brown, the pedicel darker. Abdomen brown. Legs and antennae pale testaceous. Wings hyaline, nervures and stigma very pale. (Based on Forel)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b C. Baroni Urbani, G. S. Boyan, A. Blarer, J. Billen & T. M. Musthak Ali (1994). A novel mechanism for jumping in the Indian ant Harpegnathos saltator (Jerdon) (Formicidae, Ponerinae). Experientia 50: 63–71. doi:10.1007/BF01992052. 
  2. ^ C. Peeters, J. Liebig & B. Hölldobler (2000). Sexual reproduction by both queens and workers in the ponerine ant Harpegnathos saltator ([dead link]). Insectes Sociaux 47: 325–332. doi:10.1007/PL00001724. 
  3. ^ J. Liebig & H. J. Poethke (2004). Queen lifespan and colony longevity in the ant Harpegnathos saltator ([dead link]). Ecological Entomology 29: 203–207. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.2004.00583.x. 
  4. ^ J. Liebig, C. Peeters & Bert Hölldobler (1999). Worker policing limits the number of reproductives in a ponerine ant. Proc. R. Soc. London 266: 1865–1870. doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0858. 
  5. ^ a b R. R. do Nascimento, J. Billen & E. D. Morgan (1993). The exocrine secretions of the jumping ant Harpegnathos saltator. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 104B: 505–508. 
  6. ^ Blum, M. S., T. M. Musthak Ali, T. H. Jones & R. R. Snelling (1994) Identification of a chemical releaser of alarm behavior for workers of Harpegnathos saltator Jerd. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Memorabilia Zoologica 48:17-22
  7. ^ Shivashankar, T.; H. C. Sharathchandra & G. K. Veeresh (1989). "Foraging activity and temperature relations in the ponerine ant Harpegnathos saltator Jerdon (Formicidae)". Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. Anim. Sci. 98 (5): :367–372. 
  8. ^ Peeters, C., B. Hölldobler, M. Moffett, and T. M. Musthak Ali (1994). "Wall-papering" and elaborate nest architecture in the ponerine ant Harpegnathos saltator.". Insectes Sociaux 41: 211–218. doi:10.1007/BF01240479. 
  9. ^ Christian Peeters & Bert Holldobler (1995) Reproductive cooperation between queens and their mated workers: The complex life history of an ant with a valuable nest. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:10977-10979 PDF
  10. ^ T. C. Jerdon (1851). A catalogue of the species of ants found in southern India. Madras J. Lit. Sci. 17: 103–127. 

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