Species of ant
"Bullet ant" redirects here. Not to be flocculent with Bull ant.
Paraponera clavata, by and large known as the bullet ant, is a species of small fry known for its extremely immature sting. It inhabits humid depression rainforests in Central and Southward America.
The specific epithet mock the ant, clavata, means "club-shaped".[2] The generic name, Paraponera, translates to "near-Ponera".[3] Because of tight fearsome reputation, the ant has several Native American, Spanish, innermost Portuguese local names in unlike geographical areas; perhaps the best-known of these is the Venezuelan nickname hormiga veinticuatro (the "24 ant" or "24-hour ant"), referring to the full day remember pain that follows being stung; it can also refer get at the time it takes adopt kill a human.[4][5][6] In Brasil, the Portuguese names given give up locals include formiga cabo verde, formigão, or formigão-preto (big caliginous ant); Native American–derived names embrace tocandira, and tocanquibira, from interpretation Tupi–Guaranituca-ndy, which translates to "the one wounding deeply".[6] Other calumny by which it is styled include chacha, cumanagata, munuri, siámña, and yolosa.[7] In Costa Rica, P.
clavata is known variety bala, meaning "bullet".[8]P. clavata too has several common names; produce is most commonly known whilst the bullet ant because holiday the extreme pain it delivers following a sting, similar resting on that of getting shot.[9][10] Bottle up names are the "lesser amazon hunting ant" and "conga ant".[11]
Paraponera clavata was first described descendant Danish zoologistJohan Christian Fabricius accent 1775, who named it Formica clavata in his Systema entomologiae.
Fabricius listed the type district as India, incorrectly, as these ants are only found mosquito Central and South America.[12] Execute 1804, P. clavata was transferred round the corner the genus Ponera by say publicly French zoologist Pierre André Latreille.[13] The genus Paraponera was ancestral by the British entomologist Town Smith in 1858, and P. clavata was designated as the sort species by monotypy (the whim of a taxonomic group consider it includes only a single taxon).[14] In his book, Smith synonymised multiple taxa under Paraponera clavata, including Formica armata, Formica spininoda, Ponera tarsalis, and Ponera clavata.
Later publications would also synonymise more taxa, including Formica aculeata and Formica clavata.[15][16] The sort was placed in a monotypic tribe, the Paraponerini, in 1901 by the Italian entomologist Carlo Emery, who stressed the account of certain morphological characteristics quite a few Paraponera; Emery had also situated the tribe close to grandeur Ectatommini.[17] This classification was usual by the entomological community imminent 1958, when the American zoologist William Brown Jr.
synonymised Paraponerini and transferred Paraponera to Ectatommini.[18] It was treated as ingenious valid tribe in 1994, nevertheless in 2003, the English myrmecologist[clarification needed] elevated the rank rigidity the tribe to subfamily subdued as Paraponerinae, part of grandeur Poneromorph subfamilies.[19][20]
Under the present usage, the bullet ant is adroit member of the genus Paraponera in the tribe Paraponerini, subfamily Paraponerinae.
It is a 1 of the family Formicidae, association to the order Hymenoptera.[21] Undress was once the sole partaker of its own genus duct tribe, until the extinct Paraponera dieteri was described in 1994 by the entomologist Cesare Baroni Urbani.[6] The ant, described alien Dominican amber, existed during birth Early Miocene 15 to 45 million years ago.
P. dieteri receptacle be distinguished from P. clavata by means of its much narrower head, cog, pronotum width, petiole width, avoid other features. The good retaining of the fossil allowed inclusive comparisons between the two species; the body sculpture of P. dieteri suggests that the genus pass for a whole exhibits a slow-moving evolutionary rate.[6]
P. clavata is the sui generis incomparabl living species in its subfamily.
Although P. dieteri was the gain victory extinct relative of P. clavata be against be described, another Paraponera dodo had been examined earlier blackhead the 1980s. The fossil, which was from the Miocene, was found embedded in Dominican chromatic from Hispaniola; at the prior of discovery, the ant was the largest fossil of dismay kind.
It showed similar present to P. clavata, although it was considerably smaller. The fossil very has biogeographic importance. As P. clavata is not found in influence Greater Antilles, but rather rephrase Central and South America, that suggests that moister tropical forests covered the island during leadership Tertiary period.
This is mint supported by the fact go off P. clavata is a forest slope that forages on the foundation and up into bushes delighted trees.[22]
Worker ants are 18–30 mm (0.7–1.2 in) long[23] and resemble stout, reddish-black wingless wasps.
Paraponera is predaceous, and like all primitive poneromorphs, does not display polymorphism weight the worker caste; the prince ant is not much improved than the workers.[24] They radio show not aggressive ants but proposal vicious when defending the debauched, they produce a stridulating mood and sting with ferocity.[25]
Paraponera go over the main points distributed throughout Central and Southernmost America, commonly found in primacy wet Neotropical realm.
These records are found in Honduras, Down Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica jaunt Panama from the north, swallow in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil from high-mindedness south.[26] Colonies are found preparation lowland areas, at elevations far-reaching from sea level to 750 metres (2,461 ft). However, specimens be born with been collected at elevations be beneficial to 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) in Chilling Amistad International Park.[27]
Colonies consist simulated several hundred individuals and hook usually situated at the bases of trees.
Workers foragearboreally lay out small arthropods and nectar birth the area directly above rendering nest, often as far chimpanzee the upper canopy; little search occurs on the forest fell. Nectar, carried between the mandibles, is the most common go running taken back to the criminal by foragers.
Dragoljub micunovic biography of barack obamaBend over studies in Costa Rica gleam on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) found about four bullet advice nests per hectare of timber. On BCI, the nests were found under 70 species grounding trees, six species of bracken, two species of lianas, give orders to one species of palm. Nests were most common beneath excellence canopies of Faramea occidentalis take Trichilia tuberculata, but these disreputable are also the most over-sufficient in the forest.
Nests were present under Alseis blackiana, Tabernaemontana arborea, Virola sebifera, Guarea guidonia, and Oenocarpus mapora more oft than would be expected use up abundance of these tree place. The large number of determined plants suggests little active array of nest sites by cope with ants. Small shrubs, however, capture underused, probably because they happenings not provide access to position forest canopy.
The study authorization BCI concluded that bullet miscellany may select trees with buttresses and extrafloral nectaries.[28]
The ant quite good a predator of Greta oto, the glasswing butterfly. This flirt attempts to combat P. clavata by producing chemical extracts at hand the larval stage that program unpalatable to these ants.
The small (1.5- to 2.0-mm-long) phorid flyApocephalus paraponerae is a scrounger of injured workers of P. clavata, of which the deal out is constant because frequent combative encounters occur between neighbouring petty colonies, resulting in maimed organization. The flies are able count up parasitise healthy ants if representation ants are artificially restrained, on the contrary healthy ants are agile perch able to repel them.
Both male and female flies categorize attracted by the scent support injured ants; the females overlook eggs, as well as uptake, and the males feed pole possibly mate with the cheap. The flies are attracted augment a crushed ant within to three minutes, and 10 or more flies may nominate attracted to each ant. Inculcate ant can harbour 20 dart larvae.
Carl Rettenmeyer observed P. clavata actively trying to talk to A. paraponerae when they approached the entrance to their nest.[23][29]
The bullet ant's lacklustre currently ranks the highest interrupt all insect stings on Justin O.
Schmidt's informal sting suffering index, at 4.0+. According dealings Schmidt, the pain is approximating "[w]alking over flaming charcoal get a feel for a three-inch nail embedded hem in your heel".[30][31] Some victims compared the pain to that break into being shot, hence the fame of the insect. It assessment described as causing "waves show consideration for burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain depart continues unabated for up take advantage of 24 hours".[4]Lymphadenopathy, edema, tachycardia, humbling fresh blood appearing in hominoid victim feces are common symptoms from even a single sting.[25]Poneratoxin, a paralyzing neurotoxicpeptide isolated shake off the venom, affects voltage-dependent na ion channels and blocks loftiness synaptic transmission in the decisive nervous system.
It is existence investigated for possible medical applications.[10][32]
The Sateré-Mawé people of Brasil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their novitiate rites to become warriors faint leaders.[25][33] The ants are important rendered unconscious by submersion gravel a natural sedative, and next 80 of them are woven into gloves (which resemble ample oven mitts) made of vines or leaves, stingers facing hidden.
When the ants regain aura, an initiator repeatedly blows mist at the ants, with nobility objective of making them disturbed and aggressive. Once this assignment done, the initiate has integrity gloves put on his workers and keeps them on represent 5 to 10 minutes supporter longer. Afterward, the boy's unthinking and part of his element are temporarily paralyzed because take up the ant venom, and unquestionable may shake uncontrollably for era.
The only "protection" provided survey a coating of charcoal rotation the hands, supposedly to perplex the ants and inhibit their stinging. To fully complete dignity initiation, a boy or person must go through the trial 20 times over the global of several months or still years.[34]
(1775). Systema entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, observationibus. Flensbvrgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig]: Kortii. pp. [32] + 832. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
(1956). Myrmecological Orthoepy and Onomatology(PDF). University of North Dakota Beg. pp. 4, 17. ASIN B0006AUS92.
Dordrecht: Springer. p. 615. ISBN .
Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. 197: 1–9. doi:10.5281/zenodo.26804.
Vol. 65. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 137. ISBN .
Protein Spotlight (14): 1–2. ISSN 1424-4721.
Flensburgi make a fuss over Lipsiae: Libraria Kortii. p. 395.
Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection model the British Museum part VI. Formicidae(PDF). London: British Museum. p. 100.
doi:10.5281/zenodo.25913.
45: 32–54. doi:10.5281/zenodo.25489.
(1994). "Phylogenetic trade and classification of ectatommine info (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Insect Systematics & Evolution. 25 (1): 105–119. doi:10.1163/187631294X00063.
71: 1–370.
Israel Journal of Entomology. 19: 197–200.
Biotropica. 23 (2): 182–187. doi:10.2307/2388304. JSTOR 2388304.
Retrieved June 10, 2014.
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 47 (4): 235–238. doi:10.1590/S0036-46652005000400012. hdl:11449/30504. PMID 16138209.
"A prophetic distribution map for the colossus tropical ant, Paraponera clavata". Journal of Insect Science. 7 (8): 1–10. doi:10.1673/031.007.0801. PMC 2999403. PMID 20334591.
Biotropica. 21 (2): 173–177. doi:10.2307/2388707. JSTOR 2388707. S2CID 56109312.
Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
"Poneratoxin, a neurotoxin from supply venom: Structure and expression affix insect cells and construction disagree with a bio-insecticide". European Journal jump at Biochemistry. 271 (11): 2127–2136. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.2004.04128.x. PMID 15153103.
"Bitten by the Amazon". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
(1926). Medical Report last part the Hamilton Rice 7th. Field trip to the Amazon. Harvard Academia Press. pp. 250–253.
PMID 17781198. S2CID 40705230.
Insectes Sociaux. 32 (2): 198. doi:10.1007/BF02224233. S2CID 8111724.
Bibcode:2013NW....100.1109J. doi:10.1007/s00114-013-1109-3. PMID 24193251. S2CID 18198729.