Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile)

Scientific classificationKingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: InsectaOrder: HymenopteraFamily: FormicidaeSubfamily: DolichoderinaeGenus: TapinomaSpecies: T. sessile

Binomial nameTapinoma sessile

Say, 1917

What are Ants?

•  eusocial insects of the family Formicidae  and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera.

•  evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago

• 2013 study :sister group of the Apoidea.

• Tapinoma sessile is a species of ant that goes by the common names odorous house ant, stink ant, and coconut ant. 

• Their colonies are polydomous and polygynous

What are Odorous House Ants?

…its structure?  exoskeleton The head, mesosoma,

and metasoma are the three distinct body segments.

ranges in color from brown to black, and varies in length from 1/16 to 1/8 inches (1.5–3.2 mm).

Their antennae have 12 segments.

 

A side view of the body of the ant. It shows that the gaster part of the abdomen is directly on the petiole.

Head• contains many sensory organs. • have compound eyes made from

numerous tiny lenses attached together.AntennaeTwo antennae ("feelers") are attached to the head; these organs detect chemicals, air currents, and vibrations; they also are used to transmit and receive signals through touch.

• All six legs are attached to the mesosoma ("thorax") and terminate in a hooked claw.

• Only reproductive ants, queens, and males, have wings

Legs

Wings

 Don’t have lungs but they have spiracles

Insects also lack closed blood vessels; They have "dorsal aorta“ pumps hemolymph 

consists of a ventral nerve cord that runs the length of the body, with several ganglia and branches along the way reaching into the extremities of the appendages.[

Respiratory System

Circulatory System Nervous System

How do they grow?• Odorous house ants go through an egg, larvae, pupae, and adult stage. 

• Eggs are laid from late April until cold weather begins, usually in November. 

• Eggs hatch after 11 to 26 days. The larval stage takes 13 to 29 days, 

• the prepupal stage takes 2 to 3 days, • the pupal stage lasts anywhere from 8 to 28 days, averaging about 14 days in the summer.

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) have a haplodiploid sex-determination system.

•Development - Life Cycle•metamorphosis

How do they reproduce?

Mating likely takes place both inside and outside the nest. Winged females appear in the middle of June or July, males appear shortly before.. • Queens can lay up to 20 or 30 eggs in a day, 

•Mating System•eusocial

Where do they live?•  Members of are generalized foragers, nesting in a wide variety of habitats, ranging from grasslands, open fields, woodlands, to inside buildings. The majority of species nest in the ground under objects such as stones or tree logs, other species build nests under bark of logs and stumps, in plant cavities, insect galls or refuse piles.[

What do they eat?An ant has two stomachs.One is for food for himself. The other is for food that he will share with the other antsThey forage mainly for honeydew, which is produced by aphids and scale insects  as well as floral nectar and other sugary foods.

Primary Diet• omnivore• Animal Foods• insects • terrestrial non-insect arthropods• Plant Foods• nectar • sap or other plant fluidsHuman Food

What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten?

Known Predators• birds (Aves)• northern flickers (Colaptes auratus)• black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia)• chimney swifts (Chaetura pelagica)• American crows (Corvus

brachyrhynchos)• red shafted flickers (Colaptes cafer

collaris)• house sparrows (Passus domesticus)• larval antlions (Myrmeleontidae)• toads

To defend themselves, odorous house ants secrete defensive chemicals and are physically aggressive towards predators and other ant species. 

How do they communicate with each other?

•Communication Channels•visual •tactile •Chemical

•Other Communication• Modes•Pheromones

•Perception Channels•visual •tactile •chemical

Do they cause problems?

• Odorous house ants are significant pests to homes and buildings 

• dorous house ants indirectly cause crop and other plant damage. 

How do they interact with us?

There are no known positive effects of odorous house ants on humans.

What roles do they have in the ecosystem?

• Odorous house ants farm honeydew-producing insects, 

• In exchange for the honeydew, ants protect the honeydew producers from predators and parasitoids. 

• mutualistic relationships with these insects, including membracids ,aphids), scale insects and butterfly larvae

Actual Pictures

Actual Footages

Video clip #1Video clip # 2

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapinoma_sessile• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant• http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Tapinoma_sessile/