Polyergus: the slave-making ant [la hormiga amazona europea]

[PreppyPoser1]

Personally I want a lab where I can watch the slave ants in action against the native ants of my home. ;)

[josemarygd]

It would be great ¡¡

[soundlister]

Great clip and good description, thanks.

[josemarygd]

Thank you very much,

José M. Gómez Durán

[robomantis]

I'm starting a slave maker ant colony! :-D I have 1 pupa and a nice cluster of eggs for her. The slaves a boosted her with are doing a good job of careing for her :-D

[josemarygd]

It may be difficult to keep these kind of ants. Good luck ¡

José M. Gómez Durán

[stealthant]

In Ontario we have raiding ants too. Like what VictoryVictoria said, that the onces found in WI and ON are probably Formica subintegra but I'm no expert. In my teen years I was fascinated with ants. I watched countless raids in late summers. The black ants however put up a much larger defence then in this vid, but usually always lost. Often the black ants would create a circle about three inches to a foot wide (depending on their numbers) as a defence around their main entrance, but to avail.

[josemarygd]

Thank you both stealthant and VictoryVictoria. In deed I was surprised with the so little defense made by the black Formicas fusca in my observations. The defense behaviour described by stealthant is great. This summer I have again enjoyed with Polyergus incursions. I think it is still a mystery the way they decide when beging marching in straigt line. Is it sure that it always depends on previous explorer ants? Are there leaders in the column? Do they know the exact point to stop the journey?

[VictoryVictoria]

The black ants, presumably the workers of the colony under attack, do not seem to be challenging the Polyergus (amazon) workers in any way.

[BugFolk]

It's a bit hard to see in some areas (in the beginning when you're trying to follow the raiders), but that's pretty neat. The end when they are robbing the pupae was captured pretty well. How long did it take to capture it all?

[josemarygd]

During 2006 summer (Soria, Spain), along 11 consecutives days from 17h to 20.30h, I waited for the start of these fantastic expeditions of Polyergus. Depending on the distance of the slave's nests (6 meters or 50 meters), the expedition could long from 1 hour to almost 3. I used a simple DV camcorder. The sun was terrible, and the strong light and the kind of surface did not permit a good contrast. I saw 12 expeditions in total, conserving 8 or 9 hours of recording.

[BugFolk]

We have Polyergus on our side of the pond. I've seen colonies when I lived in southern Wisconsin (USA) but I haven't been able to see them in an active raid like that. We also have a formica species that captures slaves. "Red Slavemakers" red formica with a black abdomen. I have in the past seen workers of that species carrying pupae from a raid. But they were much more scattered. I didn't see a whole troop of them like in this video.

[josemarygd]

In deed I think that it is very difficult to see polyergus. Their nests are scattered, and its entrances are very narrow. Looking for a Polyergus nest is a hard proof even if you are in their lands. But if you meet, usually by chance, and several hours before sunset, a raid of multiples red ants in straight line ...

[VictoryVictoria]

That formica slavemaker in WI is probably Formica subintegra, which enslaves common black formica species. Perhaps subintegra is not as organized as Polyergus, a specialized obligatory slavemaker which cannot survive without slaves to feed it, dig its tunnels etc.

[thorward]

I can barely see it...

[josemarygd]

habias hecho geniaal