Dolichoderus mariae
Encyclopedia
Dolichoderus mariae is a species
of ant
in the subfamily Dolichoderinae
and is found in North America.
is smooth and reflective, though fine sculpturing granules can be seen under magnification. The propodeum
is longer than it is wide. Posteriorly, the propodeum is concave with some fine vertical striations. The head and body are hairless.
, Minnesota
and Oklahoma
, North
and South Carolina
, Georgia
, Mississippi
, Louisiana
and northern Florida
. The type locality is Vineland, New Jersey
. It is common in some areas such as North and South Caroina, but rare in others and in the southern part of its range it can be confused with the similar species, Dolichoderus pustulatus
.
A study of this species was undertaken in northern Florida. It was found that the worker ants remove soil from under clumps of wiregrass
, other grasses or other fibrous rooted plants such as blackberry
(Rubus spp.) or cattails
(Typha spp.). The nest is a single, large conical chamber, which is open to the air round the base of the plant. Colonies
make a number of these nests which are linked by trails across the ground along which ants move from one to another. There are many queens per nest. Over the winter there are just one or two nests in a colony but as summer advances, more and more chambers are excavated and there may be as many as sixty nests by late summer. After this the number starts to contract again. The colonies occupy roughly the same area each summer and territorial aggression has been noted between adjoining colonies. Within their territory, the ants tend and milk aphid
s and scale insect
s for their honeydew
and also scavenge for dead insects. The size of the colony and the number of nests seemed to depend on the number of homopterans
in the territorial area. When these are abundant during the winter, the colony does not contract to such a great extent as when the season is harsh.
Observations inside nests showed that the workers, queen, alate
s and brood
took up stations on the fibrous roots which formed a sort of scaffolding in their nests. The size of the nest varied with the size of the root system of the plant above. During the summer, above some of the nests, workers chewed bits of plant material to produce a papery felt or thatch. However, it was not clear why this was done for some nests and not others. During the winter, the average nest housed about 75,000 workers and 12 to 59 queens. In the summer, the number of workers ranged from 13,000 to 19,000 while there were about 180 queens per nest. Alates first appeared in April but the majority were found in July. Nuptial flights took place early in the morning after heavy rains with thousands of male alates taking to the wing in search of other nests or colonies. The female alates mostly remained at their nests of origin where they presumably mated and joined the other queens already present.
During the winter, the abandoned nests provide shelter for vertebrate
s and invertebrate
s such as snake
s, lizard
s and ground dwelling spider
s.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
in the subfamily Dolichoderinae
Dolichoderinae
Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Argentine ant , the erratic ant, the odorous house ant, and the cone ant. This subfamily is distinguished by having a single petiole and a slit-like orifice, rather than the round acidopore encircled by hairs that typifies...
and is found in North America.
Description
This ant is distinctively coloured with the head, antennae, thorax, legs and petiole and the anterior part of the first abdominal segment reddish or ochre-brown. The remainder of the abdomen is black or deep brown. The integumentIntegumentary system
The integumentary system is the organ system that protects the body from damage, comprising the skin and its appendages...
is smooth and reflective, though fine sculpturing granules can be seen under magnification. The propodeum
Propodeum
The propodeum is the first abdominal segment in Apocrita Hymenoptera . It is fused with the thorax to form the mesosoma. It is a single large sclerite, not subdivided, and bears a pair of spiracles. It is strongly constricted posteriorly to form the articulation of the petiole, and gives apocritans...
is longer than it is wide. Posteriorly, the propodeum is concave with some fine vertical striations. The head and body are hairless.
Distribution
This ant has a wide range which includes IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, North
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and northern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The type locality is Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 60,724...
. It is common in some areas such as North and South Caroina, but rare in others and in the southern part of its range it can be confused with the similar species, Dolichoderus pustulatus
Dolichoderus pustulatus
Dolichoderus pustulatus is a species of ant in the subfamily Dolichoderinae and is found in North America.-Description:In the south of its range, the head, antennae, metasoma and legs of workers of this species are orangish-brown while the gaster is a darker colour...
.
Ecology
This ant is found in prairies, glades and fens. It nests underground among plant roots.A study of this species was undertaken in northern Florida. It was found that the worker ants remove soil from under clumps of wiregrass
Aristida stricta
Aristida stricta is a warm-season grass, native to North America, that dominates understory vegetation in sandhills and flatwoods coastal plain ecosystems of the Southeastern United States...
, other grasses or other fibrous rooted plants such as blackberry
Blackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of the Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial roots. Blackberries and...
(Rubus spp.) or cattails
Typha
Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...
(Typha spp.). The nest is a single, large conical chamber, which is open to the air round the base of the plant. Colonies
Ant colony
An ant colony is an underground lair where ants live, eat and mate. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, connected to each other and the surface of the earth by small tunnels. There are rooms for nurseries, food storage, and mating...
make a number of these nests which are linked by trails across the ground along which ants move from one to another. There are many queens per nest. Over the winter there are just one or two nests in a colony but as summer advances, more and more chambers are excavated and there may be as many as sixty nests by late summer. After this the number starts to contract again. The colonies occupy roughly the same area each summer and territorial aggression has been noted between adjoining colonies. Within their territory, the ants tend and milk aphid
Aphid
Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
s and scale insect
Scale insect
The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects.-Ecology:...
s for their honeydew
Honeydew (secretion)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the gut's terminal opening. Honeydew is particularly common as a secretion in the Hemipteran...
and also scavenge for dead insects. The size of the colony and the number of nests seemed to depend on the number of homopterans
Homoptera
Homoptera is a deprecated suborder of order Hemiptera; recent morphological studies and DNA analysis strongly suggests that the order is paraphyletic. It was therefore split into the suborders Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, and Coleorrhyncha....
in the territorial area. When these are abundant during the winter, the colony does not contract to such a great extent as when the season is harsh.
Observations inside nests showed that the workers, queen, alate
Alate
An alate is a winged reproductive of a social insect . Alate females are typically those destined to become queens , whereas alate males are occasionally referred to as "drones"...
s and brood
Offspring
In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way...
took up stations on the fibrous roots which formed a sort of scaffolding in their nests. The size of the nest varied with the size of the root system of the plant above. During the summer, above some of the nests, workers chewed bits of plant material to produce a papery felt or thatch. However, it was not clear why this was done for some nests and not others. During the winter, the average nest housed about 75,000 workers and 12 to 59 queens. In the summer, the number of workers ranged from 13,000 to 19,000 while there were about 180 queens per nest. Alates first appeared in April but the majority were found in July. Nuptial flights took place early in the morning after heavy rains with thousands of male alates taking to the wing in search of other nests or colonies. The female alates mostly remained at their nests of origin where they presumably mated and joined the other queens already present.
During the winter, the abandoned nests provide shelter for vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
s and invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s such as snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s and ground dwelling spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s.