Tetramorium inquilinum

Tetramorium inquilinum
T. inquilinum alate queen from France
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Tetramoriini
Genus: Tetramorium
Species: T. inquilinum
Binomial name
Tetramorium inquilinum
Ward, Brady, Fisher & Schultz, 2014
Synonyms

Teleutomyrmex schneideri (Klutter, 1950)

Tetramorium inquilinum is an ectoparasitic ant found in the France and Switzerland. It was discovered by Swiss myrmecologist Heinrich Kutter.[1] The species is unusual for lacking a worker caste, the queens and males living entirely off the care of the pavement ant.[2]

Morphology

The body shape of Tetramorium inquilinum is specifically adapted. The queens average 2.5 mm in length, and have a concave form and large pads and claws. Tetramorium inquilinum is frail and unable to care for itself, with mandibles too small and weak to handle anything but liquid food, sting and poison glands small, and glands that produce food for larvae and protection against bacteria are completely absent. Its exoskeleton is thin and its brain and central nerve cord are small and simplified.

Behavior

Tetramorium inquilinum constantly sends chemical signals that trick host ants into accepting them as full members of the colony. Being ectoparasitic, Tetramorium inquilinum spends most of its adult life clinging to the backs of its hosts, especially queens. As many as eight have been observed piggy-backing onto a single host queen, leaving her immobile.[1]

Diet

Tetramorium inquilinum lives entirely on food regurgitated by its hosts, even the liquid meant for the host queen.[1]

Reproduction

Nourished and nurtured well by its hosts, Tetramorium inquilinum has high fecundity. Older individuals lay an average of two eggs every minute.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hölldobler, Bert & Wilson, Edward O.. (1994); Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
  2. ↑ Wilson, Edward O. (1963); The Social Biology of Ants Annual Review of Entomology, Vol. 8: 345-368

Further reading

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