Abstract
The ant genus Myrmoxenus consists of about ten socially parasitic species including active slave-makers and workerless degenerate slave-makers. Myrmoxenus tamarae was previously known only from type material, two workers collected at Daba, Georgia and nothing was known about its life history, colony structure or the morphology of its sexuals. An inspection of colonies of M. tamarae near the type locality in 2010 indicates that young queens of M. tamarae invade Temnothorax nests and kill the host queen by throttling. The simultaneous presence of two slave species in a single colony (an undescribed species related to T. nylanderi and a species morphologically resembling T. unifasciatus) indicates that M. tamarae is an active slave-maker. The genetic structure of the colonies matches that expected for a monogynous and monandrous ant, but three of eight colonies inspected appeared to contain work- ers belonging to an additional genetic lineage.
Highlights
Ants are indisputedly one of the big successes in evolution
Myrmoxenus tamarae was previously known only from type material, two workers collected at Daba, Georgia and nothing was known about its life history, colony structure or the morphology of its sexuals
Queens, and males of M. tamarae very closely resemble those of other Myrmoxenus species (Figs 1b–d; Table 2), in particular M. ravouxi
Summary
Ants are indisputedly one of the big successes in evolution Their complex cooperative life enables them to thrive in numerous ecological niches (Wilson, 1971; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990, 2008), but at the same time makes them vulnerable to exploitation by pathogens or parasites (Schmid-Hempel, 1998). Among the latter are slave-making ants (“dulotic ants”; Wilson, 1975; Buschinger, 1986, 2009; Hölldobler & Wilson 1990; d’Ettorre & Heinze, 2001). Workers produced by the slave-maker queen herself do not engage in brood care or foraging but instead pillage pupae from host nests in the neighborhood to replenish the stock of slaves “at home” (Wilson, 1971; Buschinger, 1986, 2009; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990; d’Ettorre & Heinze, 2001)
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