Harpegnathos

Taxobox
name = "Harpegnathos"


image_caption = Worker "H. saltator" killing a queen in an inter-colony conflict
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Formicidae
subfamilia = Ponerinae
tribus = Ponerini
genus = "Harpegnathos"
diversity_link = Harpegnathos
diversity = 7 species
type_species =
type_species_authority =
range_

range_map_width = 250px
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "H. empesoi"
"H. hobbyi"
"H. macgregori"
"H. medioniger"
"H. pallipes"
"H. saltator"
"H. venator"

"Harpegnathos" is a basal genus of ants. This ant genus has a different colony structure compared to other genera. In the beginning, there is a queen being produced by an existing colony. This queen founds a new colony the same way like most other species do. The difference between Harpegnathos and common species is the lifespan of their queen. Only a few months after the colony has been espablished, the queen dies. At this point, the workers begin to fight. The intern structure of the colony changes and one worker ant becomes the alpha worker. As unfertilized ants in most cases produce male offspring, these males occur after a few weeks. Inside the nest, the alpha worker copulates with one or multiple males. Now this alpha worker has become a mated worker, a so-called "gamergate".In some species of this genus, the alpha worker mates with a male of a foreign colony. In that case [1] the alpha worker gets out of the nest and searches for a male or [2] the "normal" workers catch a male from outside of the nest and bring it to the alpha worker.

There can also be multiple alpha workers as well as multiple gamergates in some species.

References

* Tree of Life Web Project. 2004. " [http://tolweb.org/Harpegnathos/22408/2004.10.15 Harpegnathos] ". Version 15 October 2004 (temporary). in [http://tolweb.org/ The Tree of Life Web Project]