Of these genera, Polyergus is recognized as, "the pinnacle (or nadir if you prefer) of the slave-holding way of life (Holldobler and Wilson, 1990)." This formicine antgenus contains five obligatory parasitic species which direct their slave-making raids against ants in the related genusFormica (Mori et al.
Workers and queens in the genusPolyergus are completely dependent on slaves as they are unable to feed themselves, care for their brood, or perform colony maintenance (Holldobler and Wilson, 1990).
Polyergus rufescens is commonly known as the European Amazon ant (Mori et al.
During one trip to visit my parents I was excited to find that a Polyergus colony had actually been established at the edge of the garden (it seems reasonably likely that this colony was a relative of the one in my neighbor's yard that I had observed years before).
When Polyergus "lucidus" lives with the velvety-haired, long-legged and very bristly F. schaufussi, it always has the form of the so-called subspecies longicornis, which has more hairs and longer legs than typical lucidus.
When the Polyergus and Formica species involved are differently colored (usually the case), these mixed worker populations are very striking to encounter.
Genus Polyergus (Subfamily Formicinae) - Online Catalog of Ants of North America(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
A colony of Polyergus will conduct slave raids on nests of species of Formica, and workers of the host are taken and used by the Polyergus colony to feed and rear the brood and excavate the nest.
Polyergus workers are incapable of surviving without slaves.
Polyergus breviceps - Slave Raiding Ant(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
Polyergus breviceps is an obligate social parasite on Formicaants.
Polyergus queens force their way into a host nest, kill the host queens, then have the newly enslaved Formica workers raise the Polyergus queen's brood.
These photos show Polyergus workers carrying larvae and pupae back to their nest after a successful slave raid, and here is an Apple QuickTime video of the workers returning from a slave raid.
www.tightloop.com /ants/polbre.htm (271 words)
Welcome to Adobe GoLive 4(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
Topoff, H. The evolution of slave-making behavior in the parasitic antgenusPolyergus.
Topoff, H., and Zimmerli, E. Colony takeover by a socially parasitic ant, Polyergus breviceps: the role of chemicals obtained during host-queen killing.
Topoff, H. Adaptations for social parasitism in slave-making antgenusPolyergus.
ANT - LoveToKnow Article on ANT(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
Formica san guinea is a well-known European slaveLking ant that inhabits England; its workers raid the nests of fusca and other species, and carry off to their own nests pupae rn which workers are developed that live contentedly as yes of their captors.
san guinea can live either with or thout slaves, but another European ant (Polyergus rufescens) so dependent on its slavesvarious species of Formicathat workers are themselves unable to feed the larvae.
The narkable genus Anergates has no workers, and its wingless Lles and females are served by communities of Tetramandiuin pitum (fig.
Welcome to Adobe GoLive 4(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
Slave-making ants of the genusPolyergus have taken a different evolutionary route.
The workers cannot gather food, feed their queen or brood, clean their nest, or even defend the colony from predators.
The field research we conduct is designed to elucidate the mechanisms of communication that underly ant social organization, and the evolutionary paths that have led to these fascinting behaviors.
Understanding this part of the integration process is interesting evolutionarily and may also increase the probability of successfully using parasitic ants in the biological control of pest ant species.
Technical Abstract: The adoption of immatures of the slave-maker ant, Polyergus, by naïve Formica host workers is considered a consequence of their close phylogenetic relationship as brood odors may be retained in the derived species.
Hence, previous findings demonstrating an increased tendency of host workers to tend Polyergus pupae over other species that have not had contact with host workers may merely reflect a response to conspecific signals acquired by Polyergus pupae through allogrooming.
IngentaConnect Orientation of Polyergus rufescens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) duri...(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
IngentaConnect Orientation of Polyergus rufescens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) duri...
We investigated the factors involved in the orientation of raiders of the European Amazon ant, Polyergus rufescensand how these factors are used by raiders during the different phases of slave-making expeditions.
Ants at the head of the raiding column did not follow previously deposited chemical trails but oriented by celestial cues.
J_Ant : Polyergus(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20)
Body color fl in P. samurai Yano and P. nigerrimus Marikovski, reddish in the other species.
Polyergus workers are similar to those of Formica in size and thoracic morphology, but distinguished by the morphology of the clypeus, mandibles and petiole etc. Females are winged and not much larger than workers.
The occurrence of apterous ergatogynes as well as normal queens is known in the European species P. rufescens (Latreille).
What is an Ant - The GenusPolyergus - Hymenoptera Formicidae - Formicinae - The Mighty Ant - ANTZ -
Whilst we try to report all the facts as accurately as possible, we will not be made responsible for any mistakes or errors that maybe inadvertently made.
The young males and females fly from the nest to mate, after which the males die and the young queens found new colonies.
