Ants of the Northern-hemispheric, temperate genus Lasius (Formicinae) are scientifically significant, in terms of relative abundance and ecological impact [1,2]. Because of the diversity of their signal and defense chemistry, Lasius ants are organisms widely used in chemical ecology [2-7] and the wide range of colony organisations makes the genus an ideal system for exploring social evolution [8- 12]. Two further complex traits found in Lasius are yet to be adequately understood: social parasitism and fungiculture.
The social parasitism exhibited in Lasius is temporary in that it is confined to the early stages of the parasite's colony: the parasitic queen founds her colony through entering a host colony where she kills the resident queen and takes over the worker force [1,2,13].
In ants, fungiculture has evolved independently at least twice: in attines (members of the Myrmicinae), which culture the fungi for food, and in Lasius ants, which use fungi to build composite nest walls [29-33].
1. Seifert B: Die Ameisen Mittel- und Nordeuropas Tauer: lutra Verlagsund Vertriebsgesellschaft; 2007.
2. Hölldobler B, Wilson EO: The Ants Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1990.
3. Akino T, Yamaoka R: Trail discrimination signal of Lasius japonicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Chemoecology 2005, 15:21-30.
4. Kern F, Klein RW, Janssen E, Bestmann H-J, Attygalle AB, Schäfer D, Maschwitz U: Mellein, a trail pheromone component of the ant Lasius fuliginosus. J Chem Ecol 1997, 23:779-792.
5. Wu J, Mori K: Synthesis of the enantiomers of 2,6-dimethyl-6-helpten-1-ol, a mandibular gland secretion of the male ant Lasius niger. Agric Biol Chem 1991, 55:2667-2668.
6. Akino T, Yamaoka R: Evidence for volatile and contact signals of nestmate recognition in the black shining ant Lasius fuliginosus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomol Sci 2000, 3:1-8.
7. Morgan ED: Chemical sorcery for sociality: Exocrine secretions of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecol News 2008, 11:79-90.
8. Steiner FM, Schlick-Steiner BC, Moder K, Stauffer C, Arthofer W, Buschinger A, Espadaler X, Christian E, Einfinger K, Lorbeer E, Schafellner C, Ayasse M, Crozier RH: Abandoning aggression but maintaining self-nonself discrimination as a first stage in ant supercolony formation. Curr Biol 2007, 17:1903-1907.
9. Bourke AFG, Franks NR: Social Evolution in Ants Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1995.
10. Crozier RH, Pamilo P: Evolution of Social Insect Colonies New York:Oxford University Press; 1996.
11. Fjerdingstad EJ, Gertsch PJ, Keller L: The relationship between multiple mating by queens, within-colony genetic variability and fitness in the ant Lasius niger. J Evol Biol 2003, 16:844-853.
12. Boomsma JJ, Have TM van der: Queen mating and paternity variation in the ant Lasius niger. Mol Ecol 1998, 7:1709-1718.
13. Buschinger A: Evolution of social parasitism in ants. Trends Ecol Evol 1986, 1:155-160.
29. Maschwitz U, Hölldobler B: Der Kartonnestbau bei Lasius fuliginosus Latr. (Hym., Formicidae). Z vergl Physiol 1970, 66:176-189.
30. Elliott JSB: Fungi in the nests of ants. Trans Br Mycol Soc 1915, 5:138-142.
31. Fresenius JBGW: Beiträge zur Mykologie 2 Frankfurt: HL Brönner Verlag; 1852.
32. Lagerheim G: Ueber Lasius fuliginosus (Latr.) und seine Pilzzucht. Entomol Tidskr Arg 1900, 21:2-29.
33. Schlick-Steiner BC, Steiner FM, Konrad H, Seifert B, Christian E, Moder K, Stauffer C, Crozier RH: Specificity and transmission mosaic of ant nest wall fungi. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008, 105:941-944.
From Maruyama et al. 2008
E1 [endemic to California], E2 [endemic to California floristic province (Hickman, 1993)]
E2 [endemic to California floristic province (Hickman, 1993)]
Near L. umbratus ; known only from queens and males.
These ground-nesting ants also tend to prefer cooler habitats at middle to high elevations. Workers are generalized scavengers and often tend hemipterans. Species in the subgenera Acanthomyops and Chthonolasius are temporary social parasites on other Lasius species. Species of Acanthomyops were previously considered to represent a different genus, but are now known to be phylogenetically nested within Lasius (see above under “Taxonomic Changes”).
Species identification: keys in Wilson (1955a), Wing (1968) ( Acanthomyops ), and Mackay and Mackay (2002). Additional references: Agosti and Bolton (1990b), Cole (1956a, 1958a), Hasegawa (1998), Janda et al. (2004), MacKay (1998), Savolainen (2002), Seifert (1988a, 1992b), Umphrey and Danzmann (1998), Wheeler and Wheeler (1986g).
Lasius is a genus of formicine ants.[2] The type species for this genus is the black garden ant, Lasius niger. Other major members, which live in drier heathland, are the cornfield ant, L. neoniger, and L. alienus. Other species include the temporary social parasites of the L. mixtus group and the hyper-social parasite Lasius fuliginosus. Lasius flavus is also a commonly seen species, building grassy hillocks in undisturbed pasture. In the Alps, these mounds - always aligned east to catch the first rays of the rising sun - have been traditionally used by goatherds as natural compasses. Species in the subgenus Acanthomyops, in particular L. interjectus and L. claviger, are commonly known as citronella ants due to their citronella-like smell.
Many Lasius species, known collectively as "moisture ants" in the United States, make their nests in and around moist rotting wood as well as under rocks.[3][4] They can infest buildings, particularly foundation forms in contact with soil, becoming a minor nuisance.[5][3] They are not considered a structural threat because they only make their galleries in wood that is already decayed.[5] Some species build "cartonlike" nests in moist locations made of decayed wood fragments cemented together with honeydew and the ant's mandibular gland secretions.[4] Workers are monomorphic, 2 to 3 mm long, yellow to dark brown.[3] They are secretive, and forage mostly at night for honeydew and other sweet substances, and may also prey on small insects.[3] Winged reproductive males and females swarm in late summer and fall, which is when building infestations may be noticed.[3] They are distinguished from carpenter ants (Camponotus), another structure-infesting species, by being much smaller, and having a notch in the dorsal thorax (top of the center body division), where carpenter ants have a rounded thorax.[5][3] Widespread moisture ant species include L. alienus and L. neoniger, as well as some Acanthomyops species.[4]
Lasius is a genus of formicine ants. The type species for this genus is the black garden ant, Lasius niger. Other major members, which live in drier heathland, are the cornfield ant, L. neoniger, and L. alienus. Other species include the temporary social parasites of the L. mixtus group and the hyper-social parasite Lasius fuliginosus. Lasius flavus is also a commonly seen species, building grassy hillocks in undisturbed pasture. In the Alps, these mounds - always aligned east to catch the first rays of the rising sun - have been traditionally used by goatherds as natural compasses. Species in the subgenus Acanthomyops, in particular L. interjectus and L. claviger, are commonly known as citronella ants due to their citronella-like smell.
