It is even difficult to imagine that ants and termites make up about 20% of the weight of all life on Earth. These inconspicuous creatures number about 900 species and are second only to birds in their diversity. The internal structure and division of functional responsibilities in the anthill is striking in its expediency. Among them there are giants. The largest ants in the world live on the African continent. In length, they reach more than 30 mm. The size of the colonies of these insects reaches several kilometers in diameter, and the number is several million.
The largest ants in the world, living in Africa, are representatives of the genus Formicidae, subfamily Ponerinae - Dinoponera Roger. In addition to them, the largest ants include Dinoponera gigantea, which are also called Dinosaur ant (Dinosaur ants) or Giant Amazonian ant (giant Amazonian ant).
Dinoponera lucida.
This species was first described in 1833 as Ponera gigantea Perty, 1833. 5 years later, another biologist described it again, but under a different name - Ponera grandis Guerin-Meneville, 1838. The first name is correct, and the second is synonymous, although in both are often featured in popular literature. This species was separated into a separate genus Dinoponera many years later.
Based on observations in laboratory nests, they can carry a small dead frog or sparrow chick alone. Only the physogastric uterus of some nomadic ants can argue with him in the size record, and in the New World - representatives of Paraponera clavata commensurate with him. In the Old World, Camponotus gigas reaches 3 cm. The adult larvae of Dinoponera gigantea are 18-23 mm in size, the eggs are up to 3 mm long, and the larvae of 1-2-3 instars are 4-7-11 mm long, respectively (Wheeler, GC and J. Wheeler, 1986).
Distribution: South America. Brazil and partially: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay. Dinoponera gigantea (Perty) is found in Brazil and Peru.
Ecology: Despite its large size, it is a rather rare species, although locally it can be abundant. All 6 species are found in the Neotropic (South America) in tropical forests and humid savannas. No queens were found and eggs are laid by fertile workers (Holldobler, B. & Wilson, 1990: 173). The first taxonomic revision was made in 1971 (Kempf, 1971: 369–394).
Polymorphism: Workers and Males. The uterus as a morphological caste was not found.
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Food: Predators and collectors of dead prey. Foraging is ground, single and night (occasionally found during the day).
Ethology: Workers observed as foragers outside the nest behave very timidly and in case of danger they usually rush into cover, under a leaf, and temporarily hide.
Nests
The largest nest contained 120 female workers (all morphologically working, no queens), 5 winged males and 57 cocoons, 6 large larvae, more than 30 small larvae and 25 eggs. The other small nest contained only 7 workers and 11 eggs. The absence of a brood other than eggs suggests that this nest contained a beginning or very young colony. The nests are located near or at the base of the tree. The average distance between adjacent nests is 35 meters (Morgan 1993).
Each nest has an average of 11 large entrances (from 1 to 30) with a diameter of 2-3 cm. Outwardly they are hardly noticeable, often hidden by fallen leaves. Almost all chambers (10-15 cm wide and 3-4 cm high) are located on the same level at a depth of about 30 cm on an area of 1 by 2 meters.
Dinoponera australis. The underground nests contain up to 15 large chambers, each capable of accommodating an entire family of up to 30 workers (Paiva 1993).
Dinoponera quadriceps. Nests contain 40-92 workers and 1-10 gamergats per colony (Dantas de Araujo et al. 1990).
Founding families
In the species Dinoponera quadriceps, colony division and budding were found when a young gamergat and several workers leave the maternal colony. Workers carry each other or move in tandem. Adult colonies include up to 10 gamergats and 100 workers (Dantas De Araujo, et al. 1990). Autopsy of workers revealed the presence of 6 ovarioli in each ovary and spermatheca, the development of which is associated with physiological status among workers. Fertilized workers called gamergats typically lay eggs (Peeters, 1993).
Giant ant - Camponotus gigas - the largest ant from Southeast Asia, black in color. The length of the soldiers and females reaches 3 cm.
Another name for the giant Malaysian ant (Malaysian giant ant).
this ant has a black head and breast, a red-black belly. The average size of ordinary workers and males is about 20 mm, and soldiers and queens reach 3 cm. Only the physogastric queens of some nomadic ants can argue with him in this record, and in the New World - representatives of the genus Dinoponera and Paraponera clavata commensurate with it.
Lives in Southeast Asia, tropical rain forests from Sumatra to Thailand.
Its habitat ranges from peat bogs of mangrove forests to mountain forests 1,500 m above sea level. In southern Borneo, the nominative species is replaced by the subspecies Camponotus gigas ssp. borneensis, with yellow legs. The structure of the colonies is very flexible and includes 8-14 mostly underground nests (Pfeiffer, 1997; Pfeiffer and Linsenmair, 2000). Large colonies cover an area of up to 0.8 hectares and include up to 7000 worker ants.
Worker ants are dimorphic. Large soldiers weigh 372 mg, and small workers 135 mg. Castes differ in morphology, for example, in the allometric growth of the head (the width of the head of the soldiers is 6.93 mm, for the workers 3.56 mm).
Night foraging. At dusk, large masses of foragers (from 35 to 2287) leave the nest and examine the surrounding trees. Everyone returns home by dawn. During the day, single foragers can be seen in the forest floor. Foragers collect the sweet secretions of sucking insects on trees (up to 90%), as well as insects (Pfeiffer and Linsenmair, 2001).
C. gigas has a symbiotic relationship with the plant sap-sucking insects Bythopsyrna circulata from the Flatidae cicada family.
The giant Malaysian ant Camponotus gigas has a polydomic colony structure, combining an efficient communication system, ergonomic optimization, polyethism, and active mobilization into the foraging area. A podcast of transport workers moves prey from peripheral nests to a central nest with a queen bee. (Pfeiffer and Linsenmair, 1998). Territorial behavior includes prolonged (about an hour) ritual clashes between large soldiers in fixed tournament locations. Such battles can continue intermittently for months on the borders of the territories of the two colonies.
An aseasonal year-round rhythm in the emergence of sexual individuals is characteristic, which is typical for tropical species in general. The rhythm of mating flights was noted with a period of 188 ± 5 days under the influence of endogenous components (Pfeiffer and Linsenmair, 1997).
This species belongs to the subgenus Dinomyrmex of the genus Camponotus. There are two subspecies:
* Camponotus gigas borneensis Emery, 1887
* Camponotus gigas gigas (Latreille, 1802)