Harpegnathos saltator

Harpegnathos saltator
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Harpegnathos
Species:	H. saltator
Binomial name
Harpegnathos saltator Jerdon, 1851 Specimen labels
Subspecies
Harpegnathos saltator cruentatus Smith, F., 1858 Harpegnathos saltator taprobanae Forel, 1909

At a Glance

• Gamergate

Photo Gallery

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  Harpegnathos saltator worker, Shimoga, India. Photo by Ajay Narendra.
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  Worker with prey. Photo by Kalesh Sadasivan.
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  Inside the underground nest of H. saltator. Photo by Bert Hölldobler.
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  Harpegnathos saltator worker from Kerala, India. Photo by Kalesh Sadasivan.
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  Harpegnathos saltator queen among brood in a Captive colony. Photo by Dulneth Wijewardana

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 13.961° to 6.4°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (type locality), Sri Lanka.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Nesting Habits

Entrance tunnel leading down to a small nest of H. saltator The floor of one chamber can be seen to be wallpapered with empty cocoons. Photo by Bert Hölldobler.

The nests of H. saltator are exceptionally complex by ponerine standards (Peeters et al. 1994). In a mature colony the nest consists of a series of stacked chambers forming a nearly spherical structure, surmounted by a thick vaulted roof and separated from the surrounding soil by a hollow space. A tunnel leads down to a separate refuse chamber. Peeters & Hölldobler (1995) hypothesized that this nest design is an adaptation to survive periodic flooding. In addition, H. saltator “wallpapers” inner surfaces of its nests with discarded cocoons. This wallpaper is glued down and may help to keep the chambers dry. See Nests.

Queens and workers are morphologically similar (except for wings) and gamergates reproduce once the founding queen has died. In these two categories of egg-layers, the proportions of Cuticular Hydrocarbons change in a similar way with the onset of ovarian activity, while young virgin queens resemble infertile workers (Liebig et al. 2000). Thus the hydrocarbons are not related to morphological caste but to reproductive physiology.

Reproduction

In newly orphaned colonies, mated workers aggressively compete in order to achieve reproductive status (Liebig, 1998; Liebig et al., 2000). Those that are successful develop their ovaries and begin laying eggs (they are now gamergates; Liebig et al., 1998, 2000; Peeters et al., 2000).

Dominance interactions between two young workers of H. saltator. During this ritualized antennal tournament, the white individual moves forward and rapidly beats with its antennae the black individual, which retreats. Seconds later, the situation is reversed and the black individual moves forward. This alternates several times during one tournament bout, with no obvious winner. Drawing by Malu Obermayer.

This jump-and-hold behaviour functions to police workers with partly developed ovaries. The black individual jumped at the white one from the side and grabbed her on the thorax. The helpless victim can then be dragged around and held for hours. This is likely to result in an hormonal change that underlies subordinate status, and she will devote herself to brood or other non-reproductive tasks. Drawing by Malu Obermayer.

Genetics

Harpegnathos saltator has had their entire genome sequenced.

Palomeque et al. (2015) found class II mariner elements, a form of transposable elements, in the genome of this ant.

Association with Other Organisms

 Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

• This species is a host for the milichiid fly species unknown (a myrmecophile) in India (Peeters et al., 1994; Milichiidae online).

Castes

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  Harpegnathos saltator worker from Kerala, India. Photo by Kalesh Sadasivan.
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  Harpegnathos saltator worker from Kerala, India. Photo by Kalesh Sadasivan.

.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0173581. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Worker. Specimen code casent0173582. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Worker. Specimen code casent0179535. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• saltator. Harpegnathos saltator Jerdon, 1851: 117 (w.) INDIA. Combination in Drepanognathus: Smith, F. 1858b: 82; in Harpegnathos: Forel, 1900c: 64; Emery, 1911d: 59. Forel, 1913e: 660 (q.m.). Current subspecies: nominal plus cruentatus, taprobanae. See also: Bingham, 1903: 50.

Description

Worker

Bingham (1903): Head, thorax and pedicel ferruginous red, closely and rather coarsely punctured, granulate; abdomen black, shining, not granulate, with punctures finer and more scattered; mandibles, antennae and legs yellow; the whole insect covered with short, sparse, erect pale hairs, and a minute, fine, sericeous shining pu�bescence on the mandibles, head, antenna', thorax and legs, visible only in certain lights. For the rest the characters of the genus.

Length: 14 - 17 mm

Queen

Bingham (1903): Similar to the worker; the ocelli placed very low down, almost in the middle of the front of the head.

Length: 17 mm

Male

Bingham (1903): " Mandibles short, triangular, rather wide, but not elongate. Head somewhat longer than broad, strongly constricted behind the eyes and up to the occipital articulation. Concavity in front shorter and broader than in D. venator. Posterior face of the meta- notum strongly margined. First abdominal segment pyriform elongate as in D. venator. No constriction between the basal two segments. A small median carina behind the occiput. Smooth and shining. Metanotum, pedicel and a part of the sides of the mesonotum coarsely rugose. Some foveae or obsolete striae on the rest of the thorax. Pilosity as in D. venator. Reddish brown, the pedicel darker. Abdomen brown. Legs and antennae pale testaceous. AVings hyaline, nervures and stigma very pale." (Forel.)

Length: 9.5 mm

Etymology

The name saltator refers to the power of the species to making the most surprising jumps when alarmed or disturbed.

References

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