Polyergus lucidus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Polyergus lucidus |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Genus: | Polyergus |
| Species: |
P. lucidus
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| Binomial name | |
| Polyergus lucidus Mayr, 1870
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The Polyergus lucidus is a very special type of ant found in the eastern United States. It's known as a "slave-making ant" because it relies completely on other ant species to help its colony survive. These ants cannot feed themselves or care for their young without help.
They depend on ants from another group called Formica. Scientists call ants like Polyergus lucidus "dulotics," which comes from a Greek word meaning "slave." The ants they depend on are called "hosts."
What Does the Polyergus lucidus Ant Look Like?
The P. lucidus ant is part of a group of six ants that are usually orange-red or dark-red. Most of these ants live in eastern North America. They have long legs, which are often dark in color. Their bodies also have very few hairs on the top part of their abdomen, called the gaster.
A worker ant is about 5.7 to 7.1 millimeters long. Its head is longer than it is wide. The head has about a dozen short bristles, which are like tiny hairs. This ant is red, and its legs and the tip of its gaster often have a brownish tint. The name lucidus means "shiny" in Latin. This ant is indeed the shiniest in its group! It has a glossy middle body part (mesonotum) and gaster, and a moderately shiny head.
How Polyergus lucidus Ants Live: Colony Behavior
The P. lucidus ant cannot feed itself or raise its own young. It needs help from other ants to do these important tasks. Like other ants in its group, it "raids" the nests of other ant species. During these raids, they carry off the young ants, called pupae.
These pupae are then raised in the Polyergus lucidus nest. When the pupae grow up, they become workers for the Polyergus lucidus colony. The main host species for P. lucidus is Formica incerta. Other Formica species were once thought to be hosts, but scientists later found this was a mistake.
Polyergus lucidus colonies usually only raid nests of the specific ant species already helping them. This suggests that each Polyergus species has a favorite host. If they raid a different ant species' nest, the pupae they bring back are often eaten. Scientists believe that this preference for a specific host is a natural trait. It's something these ants are born with, not something they learn.
Where Do Polyergus lucidus Ants Live?
The P. lucidus ant is native to the eastern United States. You can find it almost anywhere its host species, Formica incerta, lives. Its home range stretches from New England and Wisconsin. It goes south to the Carolinas and Missouri.
However, you won't find it in Kansas or Nebraska. These ants usually live in open areas. This includes prairies, pastures, and old fields.
