Doorhead ant

Ant colonies are broken into castes based on the size and sex of the individual ant. There are males doorhead ant are only part of the colony for a short period of time, dying after mating. And there are workers, which can vary in size depending on their job, doorhead ant.

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Doorhead ant

Phragmosis is any method by which an animal defends itself in its burrow , by using its own body as a barrier. Wheeler , while describing the defensive technique exhibited by insects. Examples of phragmosis are found in the order Anura frogs and toads. Some species, such as Pternohyla fodiens and Corythomantis greeningi , have evolved a peculiarly casqued head adapted to protect the animal as it backs down a hole. Anurans involve a diverse group of largely carnivorous , short-bodied, tailless amphibians. Within this group, some frogs are characterized by a peculiar casqued head, with the skin co-ossified with the underlying bones. This type of skull is generally associated with phragmotic behaviour, where the animal will enter a hole and block the entrance with its head. Recent studies of Corythomantis greeningi , a casque-headed tree frog from semi-arid areas, have provided substantial information regarding the water economy associated with co-ossification of the head. Upon further investigation, it has been found that cranial co-ossification contributes little to conservation of water, but instead has a primary role of defence. This type of skull morphology primarily acts to protect the animal against predators , and in doing so, leads to an indirect enhancement of water balance within the body. In the study conducted by Jared et al. The study found that while phragmotic behaviour does not provide a significant reduction in water evaporation, it is important for preventing desiccation. The Mexican hylid casque-headed frog, Pternohyla fodiens , utilizes the head casque to close the entrance of its refuge in a tree cavity by deflecting the head. Due to their frequent foraging on the ground, this species often makes use of vertical burrows already extant in the ground layer as well. Upon arrival of intruder, P.

The page cannot be found. A very similar phragmotic head shape has evolved independently in some Old World species of Carebarawhere a doorhead ant major worker subcaste occurs in addition to regular major and minor workers. Search Query Show Search, doorhead ant.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Brandao et al. Wheeler , to describe a cryptic defensive technique employed by insects that use specially modified body structures to block nest entrances. Phragmotic-headed ants, for instance, prevent intruders from entering nests by blocking the entrances or by pushing them out of entrance galleries. Shield-like-headed soldiers and queens of the Neotropical myrmicine Cephalotes species of the pallens group appear to secrete a fibrous material from thousands of pores that resemble glandular openings, coating and eventually accumulating in a dense tangle of material over the head disk.

Smith Pheidole laevigata Mayr [1]. Pheidole megacephala is a species of ant in the family Formicidae. It is commonly known as the big-headed ant in the US and the coastal brown ant in Australia. It is a very successful invasive species and is considered a danger to native ants in Australia [2] and other places. It is regarded as one of the world's worst invasive ant species. Pheidole megacephala was described from a specimen from the island of Mauritius by the entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius in , although a record exists for Egypt, under the name Formica edax. There are two castes types of worker ants, the major worker and the minor worker. The common name of bigheaded ant derives from the major worker's disproportionately large head.

Doorhead ant

Shaped like saucers, or concave shields, and covered with camouflaging layers of debris, the heads of two "door head" ant species are found to differentiate them as new taxa. They use their peculiar features to block the entrances of their nests against intruders like other predatory ants and invertebrates. Being only the second case of such highly specialized morphologies discovered in Africa, the new representatives of the genus Carebara have been retrieved from sifted leaf-litter collected in rainforests in Western Kenya and the Ivory Coast. Because of difficulties usually met while studying and identifying ants through dry specimens retrieved from standardised, passive collection methods, the two new species have so far been taxonomically misplaced. The new discovery was made by an international research team, led by Dr. Georg Fischer and Prof. The findings are available in the open access journal ZooKeys. The "door head" ant individuals are a special worker subcaste that stands out among the other ant colony's workers, who are responsible for vital tasks such as foraging and brood care.

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Often, the heads of door head ants are camouflaged. In a study by Kurosu et al. Evolutionary Biology, 22, Species were initially described by Gijsbertus Vierbergen and Joachim Scheven whole placed the species into the genera Cephalotes , Eucryptocerus , Exocryptocerus and Zacryptocerus. Tags Bug Bytes ants bugs. Upon further investigation, it has been found that cranial co-ossification contributes little to conservation of water, but instead has a primary role of defence. Note central ridge, b. This varied from slight to extremely built-up material. Phragmosis is most strongly developed in the New World arboreal genus Cephalotes , where usually all castes queens, and major and minor workers have highly adapted shield-like head morphologies that enable them to plug their nest entrance without exposing eyes, antennae or mandibles to any would-be intruders. Baptist explanation: There must be sin in your life. When nests are visited, or inhabited by predators especially beetles , the entrance is quickly blocked by the peculiar phragmotic disk of the queen. Once a tapping finger or a whiff of hostile pheromones locks them into a defensive position, their nests become harder to spot. Allow the use of cookies in this browser?

The bigheaded ant BHA , Pheidole megacephala Fabricius , is a very successful invasive species that is sometimes considered a danger to native ants and has been nominated as among of the "World's Worst" invaders Hoffman

Show Search Search Query. The material acts as a coating and eventually accumulates into a dense tangle of material, creating a disk over the head. Everyone else opened it fine. New Scientist. Search Query Show Search. Unexpectedly these covering materials appeared to be produced by the ants, rather than an accumulation of material that was affixed and somehow binded to the head disk. Invading ants seem to know this. Species : ants from several genera, including Cephalotes and Carebara Habitat : trees in the tropical forest. Cephalotes is a genus of tree-dwelling ant species from the Americas , commonly known as turtle ants. Phragmotic-headed ants prevent intruders from entering nests by blocking the entrances, or by pushing them out of entrance galleries. One of the most important aspects of the genus' social evolution and adaptation is the manner in which their social organization has been shaped by environmental pressures. All Streams. Make a monthly donation. Astegopteryx soldiers effectively defend their subgall by plugging the ostiole nearly completely with their sclerotic, spiny heads, which are very likely to have evolved for that purpose. Possible causes:.