Biology of Ants Virtual Issue

Biology of Ants

Edited by Fuminori ITO, Kagawa University

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this virtual edition of Entomological Science on the biology of ants. As is well known, ants are one of the most successful insects in the terrestrial ecosystem. For example, in the Brazilian Amazon, the biomass of ants is approximately four times greater than that of all land vertebrates together. Ants work as predators, scavengers, and indirect herbivores, therefore, they affect many forms of organisms via several different ways. Thus, research of ant biology is indispensable for our understanding of the ecology and behavior of terrestrial organisms. So far more than 11500 species are known, however, there are still many undescribed species that are new to science, and our knowledge of the biology of many species is still unknown. The papers presented in this special virtual edition have appeared in Entomological Science from 2003 and deal with a wide range of biological aspects of ants from all over the world including the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Japan. As well as the recent important topics related to social evolution and exotic ants, papers on the description of the natural history of each species are significant for our understanding of the function of ants in the terrestrial ecosystem. I hope these papers will stimulate the readers to consider these small creatures as important in various ways.

TAXONOMY
The army ant Aenictus silvestrii and its related species in Southeast Asia, with a description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae)
Weeyawat JAITRONG and Seiki YAMANE

Subterranean species of the ant genus Crematogaster in Asia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Shingo HOSOISHI, Seiki YAMANE and Kazuo OGATA

New synonym and new Japanese record of the ant genus Ponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Masashi YOSHIMURA, Shingo HOSOISHI, Yuzuru KUBOKI, Keiichi ONOYAMA and Kazuo OGATA

BIOLOGY
Notes on the biology of the Oriental amblyoponine ant Myopopone castanea: Queen-worker dimorphism, worker polymorphism and larval hemolymph feeding by workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Fuminori ITO

Effects of nest size and dispersion on brood production in a North American population of wood ant Formica fusca (Hymenoptera: Formicidae
Kimberly E. TUZZOLINO and William D. BROWN

Population recovery and spatial dynamics of colony recruitment in a harvester ant: a case study in a park
Takeshi YAMAGUCHI

Diel and seasonal patterns of foraging activity in the arboreal ant Crematogaster matsumurai Forel
Yutaka HARADA

Unique social structure of Probolomyrmex longinodus
Tomonori KIKUCHI and Kazuki TSUJI

Analysis of brood development in the ant Amblyopone silvestrii, with special reference to colony bionomics
Keiichi MASUKO

REPRODUCTION
Clonal reproduction by males of the ant Vollenhovia emeryi (Wheeler)
Kazuya KOBAYASHI, Eisuke HASEGAWA and Kyohsuke OHKAWARA

Frequency of multiple paternity in Myrmica scabrinodis from southern Poland
Ewa B. ŚLIWIŃSKA, Magdalena WITEK, Piotr SKÓRKA, Artur OSIKOWSKI and Michal WOYCIECHOWSKI

NESTMATE DESCRIMINATION
Factors affecting internest variation in the aggressiveness of a polygynous ant, Camponotus yamaokai
Toshiyuki SATOH and Tadao HIROTA

Nestmate discrimination in the queenless ponerine ant Diacamma sp. from Japan
Mayuko SUWABE, Hitoshi OHNISHI, Tomonori KIKUCHI and Kazuki TSUJI

ANT-PLANT INTERACTION
Role of extrafloral nectaries of Vicia faba in attraction of ants and herbivore exclusion by ants
Nobuhiko SUZUKI and Noboru KATAYAMA

ANT COMMUNITY
Effects of selective logging on the arboreal ants of a Bornean rainforest
Erwin S. WIDODO, Tikahiko NAITO, Maryati MOHAMED and Yoshiaki HASHIMOTO

Influence of urbanization on ant distribution in parks of Tokyo and Chiba City, Japan II.
Takeshi YAMAGUCHI

Nest density and distribution of subterranean ants in an evergreen broadleaf forest in Japan with special reference to Amblyopone silvestrii
Keiichi MASUKO

EXOTIC ANTS
Habitat differences and occurrence of native and exotic ants on Okinawa Island.
Motoki KATAYAMA and Kazuki TSUJI

Distribution of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, along the Seto Inland Sea, western Japan: Result of surveys in 2003-2005
Masayuki OKAUE, Kazunori YAMAMOTO, Yoshifumi TOUYAMA, Takeshi KAMEYAMA, Mamoru TERAYAMA, Takashi SUGIYAMA, Kyouzou MURAKAMI and Fuminori ITO

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, in Japan: Assessment of impact on species diversity of ant communities in urban environments
Yoshifumi TOUYAMA, Kazuo OGATA, and Takashi SUGIYAMA

Read previous Virtual Issues from Entomological Science:

•The Biology of Insects in the Ryukyu Archipelago, June 2010
•Evolutionary Biology of Parasitoid Wasps, April 2010