love picnic - how ants find a date
TRANSCRIPT
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
What I’m reading: “The 2009 Farmer’s Almanac”, “Fungus Farming for Dummies”
I’m especially good at: My nest-mates voted me “Best Leaf-Cutter (2008)” but I think I’m most talented at growing shrooms.
Genus: Atta“Fungus Fever”Monteverde, Costa RicaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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A good day for me is: Employing my massive, blunt-edged mandibles to strip away the coat and break apart the endosperm of a seed.What I’m doing with my life: Colony defense.The first thing people usually notice about me: Tergite of first gastralsegment medially overlapping onto anteroventral surface, suture between tergite and sternite of the first gastral segment basally in the form of a rounded M shape. Postpetiole articulated in the base of the M.
Genus: Acanthomyrmex“Big Head Baby”
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaFemale/9 mos. old
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The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: Palps short, do not extend along the underside of the head. Compound eyes are reduced. My Self-Summary: exclusively subterranean, with a compact, stocky body. On a typical Saturday night I am: Often overlooked. What I’m doing with my life: Attending a species of mealybug. You should text me if: You are a root-feeding coccid or aphid looking for a close mutualistic relationship.
Genus: Acropyga“Coccid Sucker”Cairns, AustraliaFemale/8 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: I drink the blood of my own offspring; we call it nondestructive cannibalism.
What I’m doing with my life: I spend most of the time underground, out of the sun to the point where my eyes are absent.
Genus: Amblyopone“Vampire girl”San Jose, CaliforniaFemale/11 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first things people usually notice about me: My glabrous forehead and my pair of narrow, acute spines directed posteriorly. What I’m doing with my life: Making diffuse, cryptic nests in soil, litter, and rotten wood. On a typical warm wet spring Saturday night: I will come to the surface of forest litter to harvest inchworms.
Genus: Ancyridris“Smooth and Slippery”Mt. Kaindi, Papua New GuineaFemale/1 yr, 9 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: I want my first and last time to be special.
My Self-Summary: I spend all day on a hilltop with a bunch of other male ants waiting for females.
Genus: Pogonomyrmex“Now or Never”San Diego, CaliforniaMale/13 hours old
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The first things people usually notice about me: Clypeus broad from front to back; premeonotal suture present and flexible.
My best feature: Sting present and distinct, functional.
Genus: Aneurutus“Sri Lankan Exclusive”Sinharaja Forest, Sri LankaFemale/1 yr, 7 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: Eyes at extreme posterior corners of the head. Slight resemblance to Kermit the Frog.
Genus: Ankylomyrma“Hairdo Sally”Ogooue, GabonFemale/7 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: My complex head surface.
What I’m doing with my life: Preying on small invertebrates using trap-like jaws to sting capture and subdue prey.
Genus: Anochetus“Ain’t I a Cutie”Guaramacal, VenezuelaFemale/1 yr, 10 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: Scapes are very long, surpassing the rear margin of the head by two-thirds their length or more.The first things people usually notice about me: Long body and legs, pale yellow color and 11-segmented antennae, presence of a metapleural gland opening above my hind leg, circular opening (acidopore) at the tip of my gaster. What I’m doing with my life: Reducing the number of crop pests through foraging activities, preying on a range of arthropods, tending Hemiptera to collect honeydew.The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: I have worldwide invasive distribution .
Genus: Anoplolepis”Super Tramp”Todos Santos, MexicoFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
What I’m doing with my life: Practicing mutualism living in the thorns of acacia trees. I protect the tree from pests, while the acacia provides me nutrients.
I’m especially good at: Biting flesh, spreading it open, and squirting anal venom into it.
Genus: Azteca“Acacia Lover”Risaralda, ColombiaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: My mandible has 5 teeth which do not evenly decrease in size from apex to base. The third tooth is distinctly smaller than the fourth.
Genus: Bajcaridris“BJ”Maroc Djebel Hebri, MoroccoFemale/1 yr, 11 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: My mastery of camouflage.
Genus: Basiceros“Masked Lady”Limon, Costa RicaFemale/1 yr, 1 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing (potential predators) usually notice about me: When disturbed I exude a white to orange-colored fluid from the base of my mandible to discourage potential predators.
Genus: Calomyrmex“Blue Bottle”Captain Billy Landing, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: Peduncle of petiole short and narrow in profile.
My self-summary: Body setae bizarre; either spatulate, squamate, clavate, star-shaped, or very short, thick, and stubbly with abruptly tapered points.
Genus: Calyptomyrmex“Strawberry Delight”Atewa Forest Reserve, GhanaFemale/10 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: These white kneecaps.
Genus: Camponotus“Happy Campy”Toamasina, MadagascarFemale/9 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
You should text me if: You want to come meet me right now! I haven’t got much time! I mean, I want to get to know you?
Genus: Aphaenogaster“Please?!”Marojejy, MadagascarMale/18 hours old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The six things I could never do without: My Legs!
Genus: Cataulacus“Cat Woman”Antsiranana, MadagascarFemale/4 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
On a typical Saturday night I am: ALWAYS hanging out with my girlfriends and we LOVE to camp. A huge group of us will swarm from campsite to campsite eating just about anything in our way for dinner. At night we like to link arms and huddle around the queen to rest and then in the morning it’s more hiking!
Genus: Eciton“Outdoorsy Girl”Monteverde, Costa RicaFemale/1 yr, 6 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My self-summary: Arboreal cavity nester.
The first thing people usually notice about me: This broad head and this elaborate disc-like structure I use to block the entrance of the nest.
Genus: Cephalotes“Window Cheeks”Gamboa, PanamaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
I spend a lot of time wondering about: Being rare.
My best feature: Last abdominal segment with dorsal rows of peg-like teeth.
The most private thing I am willing to admit here: I eat the young of other ants.
Genus: Cerapachys“Baby Raider”Antsiranana, MadagascarFemale/1 yr, 6 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: Gaster when viewed from above roughly heart-shaped.
You should text me if: You are attacked by fire ants.
I’m especially good at: Closing the nest entrance with my body, abdomen pointed outward with poison drops extruded.
Genus: Crematogaster“Heart-shaped Tushy”San Diego, CaliforniaFemale/11 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My self-summary: Petiole is armed with a pair of spines on its uppersurface. immediately recognizable by conspicuous pocket-like pits on each side the mesosoma and the spines on the surface of the petiole.
On a typical Saturday night I am: Nesting in loose debris on the ground’s surface.
Genus: Diacamma“Groover”Saligao, IndiaFemale/1 yr, 4 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: The upper plate (tergite) of the second segment of the gaster is so strongly arched that it forms the rear-most part of the gaster when viewed from the side.
My self-summary: Petite and infrequently encountered. I am known as a specialist predator on arthropod eggs. I like a small nest in open soil or in soil under rocks, or in rotten wood.
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: To avoid detection, I will lie motionless when disturbed.
Genus: Discothyrea“Disco”Le Pouce Mt, MaurtiusFemale/4 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My Self-Summary: I’ve got one thing on my mind and 24 hours to get it done.
Genus: Nesonomyrmex“One-Track”Toamasina, MadagascarMale/28 hours old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: My integument is thick, hard, and strongly sculptured.
The most private things I’m willing to admit here: I have no postpetiole and my anal orifice is a transverse slit.
I spend a lot of time wondering about: My characteristic bleu cheese-like odor.
Genus: Dolichoderus“GorgonLola”Nova Scotia, CanadaFemale/1 yr, 6 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first things people usually notice about me: Propodeal spiracle situated high on side and far forward; spiracle subtended by a longitudinal impression and an endophragmal pit.
The most private thing I am willing to admit here: I can slice through living flesh.
Genus: Dorylus“Ruthless Driver”Chogoria, KenyaFemale/9 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: Mandibles thin and elongate, when fully closed they are separated by a broad gap for most of their length, touching only at the tips.
Genus: Epopostruma“Chirp”New South Wales, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 10 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: Mandibles triangular, when fully closed they touch or nearly touch along their entire length.
Genus: Eurhopalothrix“Bear”Vanua Levu, FijiFemale/5 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My self-summary: Immediately recognizable.The first thing people usually notice about me: Unique elongate flattened, rearward-directed, blunt spines on the propodeum, and by the location of the propodeal spiracles found on the spines near their bases. (No other group of ants has this combination of features!)On the weekend: I’m either out foraging arboreally or nesting arboreally or hypogaeically.
Genus: Froggattella“Hop On”Queensland, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: Enormous eyes in full-face view, each eye extending from the occipital margin to the posterior clypeal margin in the vicinity of the anterior tentorial pit.
Genus: Gigantiops“Notorious BIG”Huanuco, PeruFemale/1 yr, 6 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: Rear face of the propodeum with a pair of thin, vertical flanges.My best feature: Outer surface of the scape uniformly curved.
Genus: Pyramica“Pounce”Toliara, MadagascarFemale/1 yr, 1 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
I’m especially good at: Closing the nest entrance with soil at sunset.
Genus: Harpegnathos“Edward Scissor Face”Karnataka, IndiaFemale/1 yr, 9 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: My middle pair of legs that stick straight up so that I can more easily crawl through my bark tunnels.
I’m especially good at: Spinning silk! No other ant can do that.
My best feature: My lashes.
Genus: Melissotarsus“Silky and Sassy”Berenty, MadagascarFemale/7 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people notice about me: My long, slender body and elongate legs. I spend a lot of time wondering about: The huge snakes that live in my nest. They just lay around all day as if there’s no work to be done!
Genus: Aphaenogaster“Pencil Neck Geek”Ampondrabe, MadagascarFemale/11 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: Node of the petiole has distinct front, top and rear faces; claws on the hind legs are simple and lack a tooth on their inner surface.On the weekend: I am infrequently encountered.What you’ll find in my bedroom: Leaf litter, rocks, rotten wood.
Genus: Heteroponera“Small ‘n Sunny”Alto Parana, ParaguayFemale/3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My self-summary: I can successfully attack prey much larger thanmyself and am known to reduce small vertebrates to bones in a very short period of time.
Genus: Iridomyrmex“Ravish”Northern Territory, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 2 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best features: The median portion of my clypeus has a near-vertical anterior face and forms a bilobed or bidentate process above, which projects forward over the mandibles. Antenna 10 segmented.
Genus: Mayriella“Puppy Love”Booroomba Rocks, AustraliaFemale/3 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best feature: Sides of the petiole and postpetiole with thin,
wing-like flanges (best viewed from above).
Genus: Mesostruma“Heartstrum”Balranald, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 1 mos. old
Love PICNIC
w h e r e a n t s m e e t
I’m especially good at: I hate to brag but my mandibles are THE FASTEST MOVING PREDATORY APPENDAGE IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM!!! They’re spring-loaded and ready to chomp down on unsuspecting prey at 140 mph. The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: Sometimes when I get scared I snap my mandibles against a rock to catapult my body 40 centimeters away from predators. Sure it’s not very lady-like but I’m still alive, right?
Genus: Odontomachus“Trap Jaw Mama”Marojejy, MadagascarFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best features: Apical fork of mandible with 3 spiniform teeth; blade of mandible without preapical teeth. Maxillary palp 3-segmented. Antennal scrobes absent, the eyes dorsolateral. Petiole node with a pair of teeth or short spines. Postpetiole with lateral lamellate appendages.
Genus: Microdaceton“Micro”Kakamega, KenyaFemale/1 yr, 4mos. old
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My best feature: Antenna with only 7 segments.
I’m especially good at: When disturbed, I will attack with little regard for the size of the intruder.
Genus: Myrmicaria“Hairy Seed-Eater”Sangha-Mbaere, Central African RepublicFemale/1 yr, 8 mos. old
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My self-summary: One of the world’s most primitive living ants, I am nocturnal and lean towards living in a small colony with a small cryptic entrance.
Genus: Nothomyrmecia“Jurassic Juice”Poochera, AustraliaFemale/9 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people notice about me: My pea-sized abdomen filled with delicious honey-like liquid!
What I’m doing with my life: I’ve always been interested in philanthropy so I decided to become a colony replete. Now I feed the whole colony by regurgitating the honey-sweet liquid from my abdomen into the mouths of my nest-mates! I’m able to help the colony survive through long, hot dry summers here in the desert. It’s a very fulfilling job because I get to help less fortunate ants.
Genus: Myrmecocystus“Honey Love”Portal, ArizonaFemale/1 yr, 8 mos. old
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My self-summary: Highly predacious I will attack a wide range ofarthropods sometimes many times larger than myself.
A good day for me is: Constructing a nest by weaving leaves together. I use the secretions of my own larvae to connect individual leaves and form the outer surface of the nest.
Genus: Oecophylla“Go-go Green”Queensland, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first things people usually notice about me: Mandibles triangular, numerous small teeth along their inner margins; forward sections of the frontal lobes and antennal sockets are very close together and are separated by at most a very narrow rearward extension of the clypeus. Sometimes the clypeus does not extend back between the frontal lobes and they are touching throughout their length.
You might have seen me: Nesting in soil either in the open or under rocks and logs, occasionally in dense vegetation, especially grass tussocks.On a typical Saturday night: I am foraging on trees
Genus: Pachycondyla“Stridge”Queensland, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 8 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first things people usually notice about me: My eyes are large and very conspicuous, the dorsal surfaces of my head and body are lined with coarse setae arranged in distinct pairs.
Genus: Paratrechina“Hair Pair”Canindeyu, ParaguayFemale/1 yr, 10 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: I’m generally timid and will run for cover when disturbed.
Genus: Polyrhachis“Horny”Canindeyu, ParaguayFemale/1 yr, 5 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The first thing people usually notice about me: Tibiae of the hind legs each have a single large, comb-like (pectinate) spur at their tips (best viewed from the front).You might have seen me: Nesting in soil with or without coverings, in cracks or between rocks, in rotten wood, or under bark or moss on rotten logs.
A good day for me is: Foraging cryptically in leaf litter on the ground.
Genus: Ponera“Litter Mate”Bambous, MauritiusFemale/11 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
You should text me if: You want to spend a warm day in the desert sun collecting seeds! I’m always looking for a new patch of sage scrub to check out and heck, maybe we’ll find some dead beetles to scavenge along the way. The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: I discharge mandibular gland secretions when arriving at a mating site.
Genus: Pogonomyrmex“Seedy”Barstow, CaliforniaFemale/1 yr, 10 mos. old
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My best feature: Antennal scapes relatively very long; when laid straight back from their insertions at least half of their length projects beyond the occipital margin.
Genus: Prenolepis“Ice Bunny”Orange, FloridaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
My best features: Maxillary palp with fewer than 5 segments (usually 2 or 3) lateral portions of clypeus not dorsoventrally flattened nor projecting over the mandibles, not projecting as far forward as the median clypeal portion. Medial portion of clypeus longitudinally bicarinate; petiole with a shorter anterior peduncle, shorter than or at most about equal to the height of the node; petiole node not low and conical in profile.
Genus: Rogeria“Roger”Mayaguez, Puerto RicoFemale/1 yr, 9 mos. old
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The first thing people usually notice about me: First mesosomalsegment freely articulating with the second mesosomal segment, forming a flexible joint.My best feature: Eyes unusually large, often covering most of the sides of the head.
Genus: Pseudomyrmex“Bambi”Chiricahua Mtns, ArizonaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
The most private thing I’m willing to admit here: Propodeum armed with a pair of spines that curve upwards and forwards.
The first thing people usually notice about me: Postpetiole gasterjunction strongly dorsoventrally compressed and very narrow in profile.
Genus: Recurvidris“Dangerous Curves”Sarawak, MalaysiaFemale/1 yr, 4 mos. old
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My best feature: Mandible with 7 or 8 teeth occipital margin concave and occipital corners projecting as a pair of blunt, posteriorlydirected processes.The first thing people usually notice about me: Body surfaces smooth and shining.
Genus: Rossomyrmex“Big Ross”Nevada, SpainFemale/1 yr, 10 mos. old
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My self-summary: Eyes enormous, occupying almost all the side of the head; ventrolateral margin of head with a tooth at each side.
Genus: Santschiella“Kool”Ogooue, GabonFemale/8 mos. old
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The first thing people usually notice about me: My white feet.
Genus: Technomyrmex“Techno”Ngaremlengui, PalauFemale/10 mos. old
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w h e r e a n t s m e e t
What you’ll find in my bedroom: Me, waiting. But get here soon, first come, first served. Except for me it’s first come, well, let’s not dwell on the rest.
Genus: Undescribed“Mystery Drifter”Toamasina, MadagascarMale/16 hours old
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My best features: Elongate, slender body, large oval eyes.My self-summary: Possessed of acute vision, highly arboreal, nesting in hollow twigs or branches of trees or shrubs. Almost always foraging on vegetation although occasionally forage on the ground around the bases of trees or shrubs.You might have seen me: Darting to the far side of twigs or branches when approached.
Genus: Tetraponera“I Like to Watch”Ambohitra, MadagascarFemale/1 yr, 7 mos. old
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The first things people usually notice about me: Antennae with five segments (including the scape), and with the third segment from the tip elongate and much longer than the other segments of the funiculus.My best feature: Mandibles broadened and flattened in an unusual manner. Good for bouncing intruders away from the nest
Genus: Orectognathus“Poker Face”Queensland, AustraliaFemale/1 yr, 3 mos. old
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The first thing people usually notice about me: Standing pilositylacking on scape and legs; eye vestigial, reduced to a fleck of dark pigment .My best feature: Petiole low and broad, with anterior and posterior faces converging on a rounded summit. My self-summary: Rarely collected, presumed to be a specialist, subterranean predator on spider eggs.
Genus: Proceratium“Love Me”Davis, CaliforniaFemale/1 yr, 9 mos. old
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