Dorymyrmex bureni

Dorymyrmex bureni
D. bureni worker
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Genus: Dorymyrmex
Species: D. bureni
Binomial name
Dorymyrmex bureni
(Trager, 1988)
D. bureni nest

Dorymyrmex bureni also known as pyramid ant is a species of ant in the genus Dorymyrmex. Described by Trager in 1988, the species is endemic to the United States and Mexico.[1] Pyramid ants are medium sized ants, ranging from 2-4 mm. They are light orange in color and fast moving. Unlike other ants in the area like red imported fire ants, this species is not aggressive towards people. The workers have a foul smelling coconut odor when crushed. Dorymyrmex bureni hunt living insects, even other winged ants. They also search for sap-sucking insects from which they collect honeydew. On the head of these ants are curved hairs, used for transporting beads of damp sand. Colonies are small. Nests usually have a single entrance with a mound of sand shaped like a crater. Dorymyrmex bureni prefer sandy soil. This species of ant is not an indoor pest, pesticides should not be used. They are found through out Florida. [2]

References

  1. ↑ Trager, J. C. 1988a. A revision of Conomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the southeastern United States, especially Florida, with keys to the species. Fla. Entomol. 71: 11-29 (page 19, figs. 2, 9, 19, 20 worker, queen described)
  2. ↑ "University of Florida: Department of entomology". www.flrec.ifas.ufl.edu.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, August 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.