Eciton burchellii

Eciton burchellii
Soldier of Eciton burchellii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Eciton
Species:
E. burchellii
Binomial name
Eciton burchellii
Westwood, 1842
Subspecies[1]
  • E. b. cupiens Santschi, 1923
  • E. b. urichi Forel, 1899
  • E. b. foreli Mayr, 1886
  • E. b. parvispinum Forel, 1899

Eciton burchellii is a species of New World army ant in the genus Eciton. This species performs expansive, organized swarm raids that give it the informal name, Eciton army ant.[2] This species displays a high degree of worker polymorphism. Sterile workers are of four discrete size-castes: minors, medias, porters (sub-majors), and soldiers (majors).[3][4] Soldiers have much larger heads and specialized mandibles for defense. In lieu of underground excavated nests, colonies of E. burchellii form temporary living nests known as bivouacs, which are composed of hanging live worker bodies and which can be disassembled and relocated during colony emigrations. Eciton burchellii colonies cycle between stationary phases and nomadic phases when the colony emigrates nightly. These alternating phases of emigration frequency are governed by coinciding brood developmental stages.[5] Group foraging efforts known as "raids" are maintained by the use of pheromones, can be 200 metres (660 ft) long, and employ up to 200,000 ants.[6] Workers are also adept at making living structures out of their own bodies to improve efficiency of moving as a group across the forest floor while foraging or emigrating. Workers can fill "potholes" in the foraging trail with their own bodies,[7] and can also form living bridges.[8] Numerous antbirds prey on the Eciton burchellii by using their raids as a source of food. In terms of geographical distribution, this species is found in the Amazon jungle and Central America.

  1. ^ "Eciton burchellii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
  2. ^ Moffett, Mark W. (2010). Adventures among Ants a Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-94541-8.
  3. ^ Powell, Scott; Franks, Nigel (2006). "Ecology and the evolution of worker morphological diversity: a comparative analysis with Eciton army ants". Functional Ecology. 20 (6): 1105–1114. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01184.x.
  4. ^ Franks, Nigel (1985). Hölldobler, Bert (ed.). Experimental Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. pp. 91–107.
  5. ^ Baudier, Kaitlin (2019). "Brood Stimulation Hypothesis". Encyclopedia of Social Insects. p. In Press. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_16-1. ISBN 978-3-319-90306-4. S2CID 219882956.
  6. ^ Rettenmeyer, Carl W. (1963). "Behavioral studies of army ants". The University of Kansas Science Bulletin. 44 (9): 281–465.
  7. ^ Powell, Scott; Franks, Nigel R. (2007). "How a few help all: living pothole plugs speed prey delivery in the army ant Eciton burchellii". Animal Behaviour. 73 (6): 1067–1076. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.11.005. S2CID 53199992.
  8. ^ Reid, Chris R.; Lutz, M. J.; Powell, Scott; Kao, A. B.; Couzin, Ian D.; Garnier, Simon (2015). "Army ants dynamically adjust living bridges in response to a cost–benefit trade-off". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (49): 15113–15118. Bibcode:2015PNAS..11215113R. doi:10.1073/pnas.1512241112. PMC 4679032. PMID 26598673.