Notes on the biology of the Oriental amblyoponine ant Myopopone castanea: Queen-worker dimorphism, worker polymorphism and larval hemolymph feeding by workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Entomological Science

Volumn 13, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 199-204

  Ito, Fuminori ^a  

^a KAGAWA UNIVERSITY   (Japan)

Author keywords

Amblyoponinae; Ant; Caste dimorphism; Hymenoptera; Myopopone

Indexed keywords

AMBLYOPONE SILVESTRII; AMBLYOPONINAE; FORMICIDAE; HYMENOPTERA; MYOPOPONE; MYOPOPONE CASTANEA;

EID: 77955077518     PISSN: 13438786     EISSN: 14798298     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1479-8298.2010.00384.x     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. Billen J, Thy B, Ito F, Gobin B. The pretarsal footprint gland of the ant Amblyopone reclinata (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and its role in nestmate recruitment. Arthropod Structure and Development 2005, 34:111-116.
2. Brady SG, Schultz TR, Fisher BL, Ward PS. Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2006, 103:18 172-18 177.
3. Brown WL. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. III: Tribe Amblyoponini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 1960, 122:144-230.
4. Crewe R, Peeters C, Villet M. Frequency distribution of worker sizes in Megaponera foetens (Fabricius). South African Journal of Zoology 1984, 19:247-248.
5. Dejean A, Feneron R. Polymorphism and Oligogyny in the ponerine ant Centromyrmex bequaerti (Formicidae, Ponerinae). Insectes Sociaux 1996, 43:87-99.
6. Falster D, Warton D, Wright I. SMATR: standardised major axis tests & routine. 2006, http://www.bio.mq.edu.au/ecology/SMATR/, Cited 26 April 2010.] Available from URL:
7. Fjerdingstad EJ, Crozier RH. The evolution of worker caste diversity in social insects. The American Naturalist 2006, 167:390-400.
8. Frumhoff PC, Ward PS. Individual-level selection, colony-level selection, and the association between polygyny and worker monomorphism in ants. The American Naturalist 1992, 139:559-590.
9. Gotoh A, Ito F. Seasonal cycle of colony structure in the Ponerine ant Pachycondyla chinensis in western Japan (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 2008, 55:98-104.
10. Hashimoto Y. Skeletomuscular modifications associated with the formation of an additional petiole on the anterior abdominal segments in aculeate Hymenoptera. Japanese Journal of Entomology 1996, 64:340-356.
11. Ito F. Observation of group recruitment to prey in a primitive ponerine ant, Amblyopone sp. (reclinata group) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 1993a, 40:163-167.
12. Ito F. Social organization in a primitive ponerine ant- queenless reproduction, dominance hierarchy and functional polygyny in Amblyopone sp. (reclinata group) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae). Journal of Natural History 1993b, 27:1315-1324.
13. Ito F. Queenless reproduction in the primitive ponerine ant Amblyopone bellii in southern India. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 1993c, 101:574-575.
14. Ito F. Colony composition and morphological caste differentiation between ergatoid queens and workers in the ponerine ant genus Leptogenys in the Oriental tropics. Ethology Ecology and Evolution 1997, 9:335-343.
15. Ito F. Specialized predation on arthropod eggs in a myrmicine ant, Calyptomyrmex sp. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), in the Oriental tropics. Tropics 2001, 10:405-407.
16. Ito F, Billen J. Larval hemolymph feeding and oophagy: behavior of queen and workers in the primitive ponerine ant Prionopelta kraepelini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Belgian Journal of Zoology 1998, 128:201-209.
17. Ito F, Gobin B. Colony composition and behavior of a queen and workers in the Oriental ectatommine ant Gnamptogenys cribrata (Emery) 1990 in West Java, Indonesia. Asian Myrmecology 2008, 2:103-107.
18. Ito F, Ohkawara K. Spermatheca size differentiation between queens and workers in primitive ants: relationship with reproductive structure of colonies. Naturwissenschaften 1994, 81:138-140.
19. Ito F, Sugiura N, Higashi S. Worker polymorphism in the red-head bulldog ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with description of nest structure and colony composition. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 1994, 87:337-341.
20. Masuko K. Larval hemolymph feeding: a nondestructive parental cannibalism in the primitive ant Amblyopone silvestrii Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 1986, 19:249-255.
21. Masuko K. Larval hemolymph feeding in the ant Leptanilla japonica by use of a specialized duct organ, the "larval hemolymph tap" (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 1989, 24:127-132.
22. Masuko K. Analysis of brood development in the ant Amblyopone silvestrii, with special reference to colony bionomics. Entomological Science 2003, 6:237-245.
23. Miyata H, Shimamura T, Hirosawa H, Higashi S. Morphology and phenology of the primitive ponerine army ant Onychomyrmex hedleyi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) in a highland rainforest of Australia. Journal of Natural History 2003, 37:115-125.
24. Molet M, Fisher BL, Ito F, Peeters C. Shift from independent to dependent colony foundation and evolution of "multi-purpose" ergatoid queens in Mystrium ants (subfamily Amblyoponinae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2009, 98:198-207.
25. Molet M, Peeters C, Fisher BL. Winged queens replaced by reproductives smaller than workers in Mystrium ants. Naturwissenschaften 2007, 94:280-287.
26. Peeters C. The diversity of reproductive systems in ponerine ants. Chemistry and Biology of Social Insects 1987, 253-254. Eder JRembold H. eds, Verlag J. Peperny, Munich
27. Peeters C. The occurrence of sexual reproduction among ant workers. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 1991, 44:141-152.
28. Peeters C. Morphologically primitive ants: comparative review of social characteristics and the importance of queen-worker dimorphism. The Evolution of Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids 1997, 372-391. Choe JCrepsi B. eds, University Press, Cambridge
29. Peeters C, Ito F. Colony dispersal and the evolution of queen morphology in social Hymenoptera. Annual Review of Entomology 2001, 46:601-630.
30. Peeters C, Molet M. Evolution of advanced social traits in phylogenetically basal ants: striking worker polymorphism and large queens in Amblyopone australis. Insectes Sociaux 2010, 57:177-183.
31. Rabeling C, Brown JM, Verhaagh M. Newly discovered sister lineage sheds light on early ant evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008, 105:14 913-14 917.
32. Saux C, Fisher BL, Spicer GS. Dracula ant phylogeny as inferred by nuclear 28S rDNA sequences and implications for ant systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyoponinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 2004, 33:457-468.
33. Schoeters E, Ito F, Miyata H, Billen J. Aberrant venom glands in Amblyoponini (Formicidae, Ponerinae): morphology, ultrastructure and histochemistry. Acta Zoologica 1999, 80:3-9.
34. Villet M. Qualitative relations of egg size, egg production and colony size in some ponerine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 1990, 24:1321-1331.
35. Wilson EO. The Insect Societies 1971, Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA, 548 p