Photos and Info on Ants and Termites of Malaysia: July 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Camponotus maculatus

Here is a Camponotus species that jumps, not high just around half an inch. Camponotus maculatus pallidus has five morphological expressions in the worker's caste. There two major worker caste, one median and two minor. This species is of the Camponotus arrogans type of Camponotus.

This species is very similar to Camponotus variegatus and is either probably a synonym or variant (species group).

The smallest worker is far left while the largest is far right, the larger minor workers (center), median workers (top left), smaller major workers (top right)

The major worker of a Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

The major worker of a Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

The minor worker of Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

The minor worker of a Camponotus maculatus pallidus

The minor worker od Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

Minor worker of Camponotus maculatus pallidus

The minor worker od Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

The median worker.

Top view of the major worker of Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

Major worker and minor worker of Camponotus maculatus pallidus

Size comparison between the two morphological expression of Camponotus maculatus pallidus.

Shield bugs protected and milked by Camponotus maculatus.

Taxonomy:

Top Node: cellular organisms 131567

SuperKingdom: Eukaryota 2759

No Rank: Opisthokonta 33154

Kingdom: Metazoa 33208

No Rank: Eumetazoa 6072

No Rank: Bilateria 33213

No Rank: Coelomata 33316

No Rank: Protostomia 33317

No Rank: Panarthropoda 88770

Phylum: Arthropoda 6656

No Rank: Mandibulata 197563
No Rank: Pancrustacea 197562

Superclass: Hexapoda 6960

Class: Insecta 50557

No Rank: Dicondylia 85512

No Rank: Pterygota 7496

Subclass: Neoptera 33340

Infraclass: Endopterygota 33392

Order: Hymenoptera 7399

No Rank: Apocrita 7400

Suborder: Aculeata 7434

Superfamily: Vespoidea 34725

Family: Formicidae 36668
Subfamily: Formicinae 7479
Tribe: Camponotini 72773
Genus: Camponotus 13390
Species: maculatus pallidus

Last Updated: 2019 04 05
First Posted: 2011 07 27

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Gnamptogenys

Gnamptogenys is another mostly subterranean ant found in forest and heavily wooded areas. Quite a few species of this genus routinely hunts termites though not on a scale as some Pachycondyla species do. Gnamptogenys are monomorphic and polygynous.

Two workers of a bicolor species of Gnamptogenys carrying the soldier of a small Odontotermes termite.

This first species of Gnamptogenys ant worker is 9 to 10 millimeters long the largest of the the species documented here.

Above image shows this Gnamptogenys species with a millimeter tape for size comparison.

Gyne of Gnamptogenys.

Queen of Gnamptogenys.

Gnamptogenys Sp2.

This species looks quite similar to the one above but at 6 millimeters in total length is only around half the size.

Gnamptogenys sp2 against a millimeter tape.

Gnamptogensy ant carrying some termites.

Gnamptogenys ant feeding on a morsel of chicken meat.

Queen of Gnamptogenys.

Queens of Gnamptogenys.

Nest of Gnamptogenys.

Gnamptogenys costata.

This brown species of Gnamptogenys costata is 7 millimeters.

Gnamptogenys costata worker.

Taxonomy

(no rank) Root 1

(Top Node) Cellular organism 131567
Superkingdom: Eukaryota 2759 [Domain]
(no rank) Opisthokonta 33154
Kingdom: Metazoa 33208
(no rank) Eumetazoa 6072
(no rank) Bilateria 33213
(no rank) Coelomata 33316
(no rank) Protosomia 33317
(no rank) Panarthropoda 88770
Phylum: Arthropoda 6656
(no rank) Mandibulata 197563
(no rank) Pancrustacea 197562
Superclass: Hexapoda 6960
Class: Insecta 50557
(no rank) Dicondylia 85512
(no rank) Pterygota 7496
Subclass: Neoptera 33340
Infraclass: Endopterygota 33392
Order: Hymenoptera 7399
(no rank) Apocrita 7400
Suborder: Aculeata 7434
Superfamily: Vespoidea 34725

Family: Formicidae 36668
Subfamily: Ectatomminae 141710
Tribe: Ectatommini 292194
Genus: Gnamptogenys 121879

Last Updated: 2013\ 11 08
First Posted: 2011 07 12
© 2011 - 2013 Quah. All rights reserved.

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Amitermes Dentatus

Amitermes dentatus is another species of wood eating termites. The soldiers are equipped with mandibles that has a tooth in the middle similar to the Globitermes genus. Typically termite soldiers mandibles comes in four main designs - the slash (includes the clasp feature against large enemies) the weapon of choice the Macrotermitinae subfamily aside from others; the bite and cling or grasp/clasp common among the smaller size termites (aka snapping termites); the flick (either cross flick or open flick) deployed by all the Termes group; and then cross tunnel and passage way block deployed as the only defense by drywood Cryptotermes but not exclusively. Scherdorhinotermes is quite unique in that the major soldiers deploy a different mandible design (grasp and clasp) from the minor soldiers (slash or nip). Of course then there are the termites that use mandible-less, the syringed or ‘nozzled’, defense.

I have noted that among all those termites (that I have encountered) with slashing andor clasping mandibles the left mandible tip overlay over the right. And among the flicking mandible termites the left mandible overlay below the right when the mandibles are not deployed but deployed with the right crossing over the top of the left. Of course not all termites (i.e. the more primitive species) with slashing andor clasping mandibles have their left mandible tip overlay the right, species (not from this location, example: Hodotermes) may have the left on top instead. This might suggest that termites with these two mandibles design types split in the genetic lineage before the greater species diversification among these two lineage began. Doing a back ward trace might reveal those species that separated from these two lineage in the evolutionary tree.

Termites that do not have a soldier caste deploy other strategies of nest defense. One such species deploy the poison dung defense. The soldierless termite workers release a drop of opaque liquid from its abdomen that repulse and kills ants. The workers themselves are also poisonous when eaten, killing any ant that eats it.