TRAP BUILDING BEHAVIOUR OF Allomerus decemarticulatus

RESHMA.T

REG NO.:CUAPZOO019

SYSTEMATIC POSITION

Kingdom : Animalia

Phylum :Arthropoda

Class : Insecta

Order : Hymenoptera

Family : Formicidae

Genus : allomerus

• Allomerus decemarticulatus is an Amazonian ant species �while most of ants are foragers,picking up food wherever they can find it,the Allomerus genus lets their prey come to them

• This species are notable for the worker’s complex and extreme predatory behavior
• They live in leaf pockets of ahost plant species Hirtella physophora.Leaf pockets are areas inside plant between leaves and stem

• They exhibit ambush predation::They are able to capture their prey,which is much larger than themselves,by constructing a platform that acts as a trap for the unsuspecting prey.The ants hide in the trap and attack when any insect land on it

• The workers construct the traps on the stem of the plant basically by making a raised and hollow platform on one section of the stem �The ants will also make small holes in this platform�wider than their own bodies

• The individual workers will hide in these holes invisible to their prey from the outside
• They will position their head outwards from the plant with mandibles open,waiting for prey.

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PREDATORY BEHAVIOUR

Predatory behaviour

• Once an insect lands on the plant, the closest ant will immediately surface and grab on to a leg,wing,some other appendage of the prey
• The ant immobilizes the prey and it releases pheromones to call other ants to the area.The worker ants use a venom that they produce to paralyze and kill the prey after that workers will carry the body back to the colony where it is cut into little pieces to be eaten by the group.

• This is a best example for collaboration between solitary and co-operative predation

• The first ant will initially act alone in her predation but after that other ants will come and join in the hunt. This demonstrates how much more effective group of individuals can be than an individual working on its own.They are only able to do this by incorporating communication and cooperation

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