hile the formation of food-storing repletes seems remarkable, it is merely an exaggerated form of typical ant behavior. Most ants possess expandable abdominal crops (stomachs) for temporarily carrying liquid food back to the nest. When solicited by a hungry nestmate, they regurgitate this liquid and offer a small droplet held between their mandibles. Close observation will reveal that the donor ant's abdomen shrinks as the recipient's abdomen expands. Thus, the crop serves as a "communal stomach" and repletism simply as extreme development of this expandable organ.
In the presence of excess food, repletes can develop from any newly emerged worker, apparently before its exoskeleton and intersegmental membranes harden and become less flexible. In young colonies, it is not uncommon to find small workers serving as somewhat ineffective repletes, with their tiny abdomens distended to the bursting point. However, on an individual basis, major workers make the most efficient honeypots. Hundreds to a thousand or more large repletes can be found in mature honey ant colonies, each patiently hanging and waiting to serve up dinner when called upon by its nestmates.
Argentine Ant. Linepithema humile.
Argentine Ant tending soft scale for honeydew. Image courtesy Penarc.
Identification. The Argentine ant is a one node, small, shiny, brown ant with only one size of worker. Workers are usually about 1/12 to 1/8 inch long. The queen ants are much larger, sometimes reaching 1/4 inch in length. They nest outdoors under logs, concrete slabs, debris and mulch. Argentine ants build very large colonies and can move rapidly. During winter months, this ant will move indoors.
Biology. This ant is successful and hard to control because:
· Different Argentine ant colonies in a same general locale are not enemies. Even the many queens in a single colony or separate colonies are friendly to each other.
· Argentine ants are not too "picky" when choosing a suitable site to infest or colonize. They readily (as you will read about in move their ne