Philidris nagasau

Philidris nagasau is a species of ant in the genus Philidris. Described by William M. Mann in 1921, the species is endemic to Fiji.[1]

Philidris nagasau
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Genus: Philidris
Species:
P. nagasau
Binomial name
Philidris nagasau
(W. M. Mann, 1921)
Synonyms
  • Philidris nagasau agnatus W. M. Mann, 1921
  • Philidris nagasau alticola W. M. Mann, 1921

Philidris nagasau makes its living by planting seeds of epiphytes such as Squamellaria in the bark of host trees and tending them like a garden. Their planting habits share a remarkable similarity to that of humans. They are able to identify the seeds of their preferred plant, plant these seeds, guard their plots from potential predators, and finally use their own feces to fertilize the young seedling. There is also evidence that these ants lost their ability to nest before Squamellaria developed domatia for these ants to reside. This suggests that P. nagasau selectively breed Squamellaria with wider openings that eventually developed into domatia.[2][3]

References
  1. Shattuck, S. O. (1992). "Review of the dolichoderine ant genus Iridomyrmex Mayr with descriptions of three new genera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Australian Journal of Entomology. 31: 13-18 (page 18, Combination in Philidris)
  2. "Ants and epiphytes: A longstanding relationship". (November 22, 2016). ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. Chomicki, Guillaume; Renner, Susanne S. (21 November 2016). "Obligate plant farming by a specialized ant". Nature Plants. 2 (12): 16181. doi:10.1038/nplants.2016.181. PMID 27869787. S2CID 23748032.


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