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Some new ant theories


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9 replies to this topic

#1 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted October 10 2017 - 8:50 PM

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1- Are the driver ants Dorylus somehow closely related to the ponerine ants? If you look at the worker's gaster and the male ants you will see what I mean.
2- Aphaenogaster use the social bucket method. They trap a liquid in between their mandibles with aurface tension and present it to other members of the colony. This is a very common behavior and many ponerines, if not all. This inclides odontomachus, pachycondyla, ectatomma, and so on.
Are these theoriea true? Have rhey already been evaluated by myrmecologists?

Proverbs 6:6-8 New International Version (NIV)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

 


#2 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted October 10 2017 - 9:25 PM

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1. I stand corrected. They aren't.

 

2. No. They use sand grains, sticks, dirt pieces, and other absorbent materials to transport liquids.


Edited by Connectimyrmex, October 11 2017 - 2:11 AM.

Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps

#3 Offline Batspiderfish - Posted October 10 2017 - 9:37 PM

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Not sure about the second part, but Ponerinae diverged from the "non-ponerine" formicoid subfamilies some time ago; Dorylus is in its own subfamily, Dorylinae, more closely related to the likes of Dolichoderinae, Myrmicinae, Formicinae, etc.


If you've enjoyed using my expertise and identifications, please do not create undue ecological risk by releasing your ants. The environment which we keep our pet insects is alien and oftentimes unsanitary, so ensure that wild populations stay safe by giving your ants the best care you can manage for the rest of their lives, as we must do with any other pet.

 

Exotic ants are for those who think that vibrant diversity is something you need to pay money to see. It is illegal to transport live ants across state lines.

 

----

Black lives still matter.


#4 Offline T.C. - Posted October 10 2017 - 9:40 PM

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I'm confused with all these posts. I deleted one of the two identical posts. Now there is this one. Not the same though.

Kind of hard to read, are you on mobile?

Edited by T.C., October 10 2017 - 9:41 PM.

“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#5 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted October 11 2017 - 3:42 AM

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I'm confused with all these posts. I deleted one of the two identical posts. Now there is this one. Not the same though.

Kind of hard to read, are you on mobile?

Yeah I'm on mobile, whenever I try to post it takes extreme lag and a lot of time.
But when I looknat the gaster, the gaster structure is the same, and I could have sworn that the aphaenogasyer workers were carrying droplets stuck between their mandibles. They were open in a v shape and the workers had a drop of honey in each one. I'll try to upload a video of it when I have time.

Proverbs 6:6-8 New International Version (NIV)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

 


#6 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted October 11 2017 - 11:05 AM

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Sometimes my Aphaenogaster picea workers do that when they're in a rush (they drink as they walk)


Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps

#7 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted October 12 2017 - 3:23 AM

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1. I stand corrected. They aren't.

 

2. No. They use sand grains, sticks, dirt pieces, and other absorbent materials to transport liquids.

I have a small 5 worker Aphaenogaster sp. colony. I heard that they don't have social stomachs, so I was wondering how they got food to their brood, nestmates, and queen. That makes sense now.



#8 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted October 12 2017 - 12:17 PM

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1. I stand corrected. They aren't.

 

2. No. They use sand grains, sticks, dirt pieces, and other absorbent materials to transport liquids.

I have a small 5 worker Aphaenogaster sp. colony. I heard that they don't have social stomachs, so I was wondering how they got food to their brood, nestmates, and queen. That makes sense now.

 

Yup. In woodlands, sugars can be pretty rare, so Aphaenogaster didn't really need a social stomach.


Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps

#9 Offline Batspiderfish - Posted October 12 2017 - 4:39 PM

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Aphaenogaster DO have social stomachs, but they're so much smaller than average that they prefer to soak liquid foods in pieces of debris and transport it to the nest that way.


If you've enjoyed using my expertise and identifications, please do not create undue ecological risk by releasing your ants. The environment which we keep our pet insects is alien and oftentimes unsanitary, so ensure that wild populations stay safe by giving your ants the best care you can manage for the rest of their lives, as we must do with any other pet.

 

Exotic ants are for those who think that vibrant diversity is something you need to pay money to see. It is illegal to transport live ants across state lines.

 

----

Black lives still matter.


#10 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted October 12 2017 - 5:24 PM

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Oh. That's pretty cool!


Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps




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