What is the largest type of ant?
5202150#0
Dinomyrmex is a monotypic genus of ant containing the species Dinomyrmex gigas or giant forest ant. "D. gigas" is a large species of ant, native to Southeast Asian forests. It is one of the largest ants in existence, measuring in at for normal workers, and for the soldiers. Honeydew makes up 90% of their diet, but they will also consume insects and bird droppings. The ant is an effective forager, utilizing both efficient communication and recruitment. A handful of these ants may meet at night to engage in what has been observed to be ritual battle. These fights can continue for several months.
Dinomyrmex
25647966#9
The largest of the ants, and the heaviest species of the family, are the females of "Dorylus helvolus", reaching a length of . The ant that averages the largest for the mean size of the whole colony is "Dinoponera gigantea", averaging up to . Another ant that is native to Australia, "Myrmecia brevinoda", workers are reported to be on average and queens are more than in length.
List of largest insects
348226#11
The subfamily Formiciinae represents one extinct genus of ants dating back to the Eocene. Ants of the genus "Titanomyrma" are the largest ants ever known, with queen specimens the size of small hummingbirds. Fossils have been collected from the state of Wyoming and in Germany.
List of ant genera
36812720#0
Dinoponera is a strictly South American genus of ant in the subfamily Ponerinae, commonly called tocandiras or giant Amazonian ants. These ants are generally less well known than "Paraponera clavata", the bullet ant, yet "Dinoponera" females may surpass in total body length, making them among the largest ants in the world."Dinoponera" is a strictly South American genus, and has been found from montane rainforest on the eastern slope of the Andes in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia to savannah and lowland rainforest in Brazil, Guyana, south through Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. "Dinoponera australis", known from Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, has the widest known range of all "Dinoponera" species.
Dinoponera
36812720#1
"Dinoponera" contains one of the largest species of ants in the world, with female "Dinoponera gigantea" specimens measuring in length. Size is the most obvious character distinguishing "Dinoponera" from other genera. The only other ants with a worker caste approaching this size are "Paraponera clavata" (the bullet ant) and the larger "Pachycondyla" such as "P. crassinoda", "P. impressa" and "P. villosa". "Paraponera clavata" is easily separated by its anvil-shaped petiole with a spine on the ventral surface, highly sculptured body and deep antennal scrobes. "Pachycondyla" is regarded as the sister taxa to "Dinoponera". "Dinoponera", in addition to their size, are distinguishable from "Pachycondyla" by the presence of two laterally projecting clypeal teeth and rows of spines on the pygidium and hypopygidium.
Dinoponera
7105367#5
Banded sugar ants appear in different forms, varying from in length, making them a large species. Banded sugar ants are polymorphic, and colonies have two types of workers: minor workers and major workers that have different size ranges. The two castes can be identified easily, due to the workers being smaller and more slender, while the soldiers are larger and more robust. Both castes carry a set of powerful mandibles. Queen ants are the largest ants in the colony. Banded sugar ants come in a variety of colours, possibly due to ecological rather than genetic influences. For example, humidity, insolation and temperature may all affect the colour of an individual.
Banded sugar ant
39992593#1
Worker ants have been known to measure 3.7 cm (1.5 in) in total length, while queens can exceed 4.0 cm (1.6 in) in length, making them one of the largest type of bull ant in Australia and in the world. Most of their body is dark red, with the exception of the bulbous part of their abdomen being black.
Myrmecia brevinoda
19775833#11
A mature leafcutter colony can contain more than 8 million ants (the maximum size of the colony varies between species), mostly sterile female workers. They are divided into castes, based mostly on size, that perform different functions. "Acromyrmex" ants exhibit a high degree of biological polymorphism, four castes being present in established colonies - minims (or "garden ants"), minors, mediae, and majors. Majors are also known as soldiers or dinergates. Each caste has a specific function within the colony. "Acromyrmex" ants are less polymorphic than the other genus of leafcutter ants "Atta", meaning comparatively less difference in size exists from the smallest to largest types of "Acromymex". The high degree of polymorphism in this genus is also suggestive of its high degree of advancement.
Acromyrmex
2594#43
Most ants are generalist predators, scavengers, and indirect herbivores, but a few have evolved specialised ways of obtaining nutrition. It is believed that many ant species that engage in indirect herbivory rely on specialized symbiosis with their gut microbes to upgrade the nutritional value of the food they collect and allow them to survive in nitrogen poor regions, such as rainforest canopies. Leafcutter ants ("Atta" and "Acromyrmex") feed exclusively on a fungus that grows only within their colonies. They continually collect leaves which are taken to the colony, cut into tiny pieces and placed in fungal gardens. Ergates specialise in related tasks according to their sizes. The largest ants cut stalks, smaller workers chew the leaves and the smallest tend the fungus. Leafcutter ants are sensitive enough to recognise the reaction of the fungus to different plant material, apparently detecting chemical signals from the fungus. If a particular type of leaf is found to be toxic to the fungus, the colony will no longer collect it. The ants feed on structures produced by the fungi called "gongylidia". Symbiotic bacteria on the exterior surface of the ants produce antibiotics that kill bacteria introduced into the nest that may harm the fungi.
Ant
36619823#0
Camponotus japonicus, more often known under the common name Japanese carpenter ant, is a species of ant native to East Asia. It is black, and one of the largest ants. A nest has about ten to thousands of individuals, and it can be a pest when it enters households or protects aphids. There are several subspecies of this ant in different areas of Asia, with the largest of the species being located in Northern China.
Camponotus japonicus
1056536#3
A supercolony occurs when many ant colonies over a large area unite. They still continue to recognize genetic differences in order to mate, but the different colonies within the super colony avoid aggression. Until 2000, the largest known ant supercolony was on the Ishikari coast of Hokkaidō, Japan. The colony was estimated to contain 306 million worker ants and one million queen ants living in 45,000 nests interconnected by underground passages over an area of . In 2000, an enormous supercolony of Argentine ants was found in Southern Europe (report published in 2002). Of 33 ant populations tested along the stretch along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts in Southern Europe, 30 belonged to one supercolony with estimated millions of nests and billions of workers, interspersed with three populations of another supercolony. The researchers claim that this case of unicoloniality cannot be explained by loss of their genetic diversity due to the genetic bottleneck of the imported ants. In 2009, it was demonstrated that the largest Japanese, Californian and European Argentine ant supercolonies were in fact part of a single global "megacolony". This intercontinental megacolony represents the most populous recorded animal society on earth, other than humans. Although a good story, this has proven to be incorrect and no ant colony could reach such an enormous size without the 1 million queen ants collapsing their tiny ant economy due to fighting for the power of the ultimate queen.
Ant colony
1057147#11
"Myrmecia" ants are easily noticeable, due to their large mandibles, and large compound eyes that provide excellent vision, and a powerful sting that they use to kill prey. Each of their eyes contains 3,000 facets, making them the second largest in the ant world. Size varies widely, ranging from in length. The largest "Myrmecia" species is "M. brevinoda", with workers measuring ; "M. brevinoda" workers are also the largest in the world. Almost all species are monomorphic, but "M. brevinoda" is the only known species where polymorphism exists. It is well known that two worker subcastes exist, but this does not distinguish them as two different polymorphic forms. This may be due to the lack of food during winter and they could be incipient colonies. The division of labour is based on the size of ant, rather than its age, with the larger workers foraging for food or keeping guard outside the nest, while the smaller workers tend to the brood.
Myrmecia (ant)