Ravoux's slavemaker ant

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Ravoux's slavemaker ant
Worker from Italy
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Genus: Temnothorax
Species:
T. ravouxi
Binomial name
Temnothorax ravouxi
(André, 1896)
Synonyms
  • Myrmoxenus ravouxi (André, 1896)
  • Epimyrma ravouxi (André, 1896)

Ravoux's slavemaker ant (Temnothorax ravouxi) is a species of slave-making ant endemic to Europe. The species are helotistic, that is, they oppress another species of ant in order to sustain their colony.[2] The queen will fake death to entice ants from another colony to drag her back to their nest, where she awakens and kills the nest's original queen. She will then cover herself in the dead queen's pheromones, and will begin producing eggs. The slavemaker ants then overrun the colony and then find a new colony to take over.[3]

This species was formerly a member of the genus Myrmoxenus, and before that, the genus Epimyrma.[3]

References

  1. ^ Social Insects Specialist Group. (1996). "Epimyrma ravouxi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T7844A12854740. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T7844A12854740.en.
  2. ^ "Slavemaker Ants".
  3. ^ a b "Species: Temnothorax ravouxi". AntWeb. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2019-07-02.


Further reading

External links


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