Acorn ant: Difference between revisions
| Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
== Reproduction == | == Reproduction == | ||
Acorn ants are polygynous | Acorn ants are polygynous, meaning male ants will reproduce with multiple queens inside the colony. Larvae can be found inside a nest all year-round. New colonies are formed by multiple queens (Pleometrosis), or a new queen can be adopted into an existing colony <ref> Pratt, Stephen C. “Efficiency and Regulation of Recruitment During Colony Emigration by the Ant Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” Behavioral [[Ecology]] and Sociobiology, vol. 62, no. 8, 2008, pp. 1369–76, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0565-9.</ref>. The queen will lay around a dozen eggs in a nest. The eggs hatch into larvae, which go through multiple molting stages as they grow. Eventually, larvae will metamorphose into a pupa and then grow into an adult ant. The queen and male ants have wings while the worker ants (female), do not have wings <ref name= "cycle">Tate Holbrook. "Individual Life Cycle of Ants". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 17 Dec 2009. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 4 May 2023. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/individual-life-cycle</ref>. | ||
[[File:Worker acorn ant.jpg|200px|thumb|Worker Acorn Ant <ref name= "multiple">“Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree. </ref>]][[File:Male acorn ant.jpg|200px|thumb|Male Acorn Ant <ref name= "multiple">“Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree. </ref>]][[File:Queen acorn ant.jpg|200px|thumb|Queen Acorn Ant <ref name= "multiple">“Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree. </ref>]] | [[File:Worker acorn ant.jpg|200px|thumb|Worker Acorn Ant <ref name= "multiple">“Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree. </ref>]][[File:Male acorn ant.jpg|200px|thumb|Male Acorn Ant <ref name= "multiple">“Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree. </ref>]][[File:Queen acorn ant.jpg|200px|thumb|Queen Acorn Ant <ref name= "multiple">“Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree. </ref>]] | ||
Revision as of 19:11, 28 February 2025
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Crematogastrini |
| Genus: | Temnothorax |
| Species: | Temnothorax curvispinosus |
| Image Source: Bug Guide [1] | |
Species Description
Temnothorax curvispinosus, or the acorn ant, is a well-studied species found in both rural and urban areas of the eastern United States. Their common name, "acorn ant," results from the fact that an entire colony (which typically contains between 50 and 200 worker ants, along with several queens) can live in hollowed-out nuts, such as acorns [2]. The acorn ant is amber to yellow in color, and it has 11 segmented antenna, along with a curved propodeal spine. The middle part of their body (mesosoma) is covered in rough ridges (rugae) [3]. They have been observed to act passively.
Habitat & Range
Acorn ants are native to the eastern United States. Their range extends as far north as Maine, as far south as Florida, and as far west as Arizona. They can also be found in parts of Canada, including Ontario. They are likely to occupy temperate and subtropical northern forests [3].
Nesting Habits
In addition to hollowed-out nuts, acorn ant nests can be found in hollow stems, insect galls, puffballs, and pinecones. Nests may also be under rocks or in soil, usually at lower elevations. Acorn ants are polydomous (meaning they can inhabit several nests), and they can thus change where they reside after any disturbance in or around a nest [4]. In the summer, sub-colonies can form from a large colony and build a new nest nearby the main population's. During the winter, sub-colonies coalesce into one colony. But, about half of the colony is lost in the winter, as ants either die off or migrate to start or join a colony [5].
Reproduction
Acorn ants are polygynous, meaning male ants will reproduce with multiple queens inside the colony. Larvae can be found inside a nest all year-round. New colonies are formed by multiple queens (Pleometrosis), or a new queen can be adopted into an existing colony [6]. The queen will lay around a dozen eggs in a nest. The eggs hatch into larvae, which go through multiple molting stages as they grow. Eventually, larvae will metamorphose into a pupa and then grow into an adult ant. The queen and male ants have wings while the worker ants (female), do not have wings [7].
Diet
Acorn ants are generalists, but often eat liquid sugars like honeydew from tree and plant leaves. These ants also eat protein in the form of small insects, like spring tails and dipterans (flies). Foraging is usually done in tandem (one ant leading another ant) and is more common in the spring and summer [8].
Adaption
Acorn ants have shown sensitivity to high temperatures, and it has been found that colonies present in urban areas have better adapted to these temperatures. The development of cities has caused a rapid rise in environmental temperatures, especially with impervious surfaces. Acorn ants had an evolutionary change in thermal tolerance. Urban ant populations have exhibited greater heat tolerance under the fast rate of temperature change, and this result was correlated with both faster rates of diurnal temperature rise in urban acorn ant nest sites and more rapid spatial changes in temperature across urban foraging areas [2].
References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 “Species Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” BugGuide.Net, https://bugguide.net/node/view/328106/tree.
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 Diamond, Sarah E; Chick, Lacy D; Perez, Abe; Strickler, Stephanie A; Zhao, Crystal (14 June 2018). "Evolution of plasticity in the city: urban acorn ants can better tolerate more rapid increases in environmental temperature". Conservation Physiology. 6 (1): coy030. doi:10.1093/conphys/coy030. ISSN 2051-1434. PMC 6007456. PMID 29977563.
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 “Temnothorax curvispinosus.” AntWiki, https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Temnothorax_curvispinosus
- ↑ Healey, Christiane I. M., and Stephen C. Pratt. “The Effect of Prior Experience on Nest Site Evaluation by the Ant Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” Animal Behaviour, vol. 76, no. 3, 2008, pp. 893–99, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.016.
- ↑ Pratt, S.C. Behavioral mechanisms of collective nest-site choice by the ant Temnothorax curvispinosus . Insect. Soc. 52, 383–392 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-005-0823-z
- ↑ Pratt, Stephen C. “Efficiency and Regulation of Recruitment During Colony Emigration by the Ant Temnothorax Curvispinosus.” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol. 62, no. 8, 2008, pp. 1369–76, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0565-9.
- ↑ Jump up to: 7.0 7.1 Tate Holbrook. "Individual Life Cycle of Ants". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 17 Dec 2009. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 4 May 2023. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/individual-life-cycle
- ↑ Mackay, W. P. (2000). "A review of the New World ants of the subgenus Myrafant, (genus Leptothorax) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Sociobiology. 36: 265–444
- ↑ Bender, Eric (21 March 2022). "Urban evolution: How species adapt to survive in cities". Knowable Magazine. Annual Reviews. doi:10.1146/knowable-031822-1.
- ↑ “Acorn Ants and Allies (Genus Temnothorax).” INaturalist United Kingdom, https://uk.inaturalist.org/taxa/424607-Temnothorax#cite_note-Snelling_et_al_2014-5