15 Jun 2013

Ants of Singapore #06 - Pheidologeton (diversus)

Pheidologeton

Species accounts


Pheidologeton diversus 


Recently Pheidologeton was synonymised under Carebara (Fisher, 2014). I will still recognize Pheidologeton for the sake of this blog.

Pheidologeton diversus, otherwise known as the Maurauder Ant. 

These ants are commonly seen, in the day and in the night, where there is a dead carcass. They are quick to recruit, and are the dominant insects at a particular dead carcass, often excluding other competitors. Maybe that's why they're relatively common insects.

Dominating at a carcass

They are polymorphic (come in various sizes), and sometimes the minor ants can be seen to be riding on the major ants, a behaviour similar to the leaf cutter ants whose minors ride on the leaves carried by the major workers. Not many are sure why this behaviour is so, but it has been hypothesized that perhaps it prevents phorid flies from laying eggs on their head.



They look similar to the Pheidole ant, another genus but can be distinguished based on the number of antennal clubs (Pheidologeton has 2, Pheidole has 3).

No comments:

Post a Comment