Unwelcome guests at farms breeding the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera Stratiomyidae)

Livestock farms represent a source of attraction for other species, which find food resources on the animals themselves, in the food supplied to them, in their manure, etc. Insect farms too can suffer infestation by different organisms living on substrates or behaving as parasites and/or predators. Breeding of the black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens (L.) requires organic materials which are attractive for other arthropods (commensals, mycetophages, scavengers, etc.). During recent years, the breeding system adopted at the Di.Pro.Ve.S. of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza (Italy), has suffered the presence of the following ‘pests’: Megaselia scalaris (Loew) (Diptera Phoridae), Muscina stabulans (Fallén) (Diptera Muscidae), Monomorium pharaonis (L.) (Hymenoptera Formicidae) and Caloglyphus berlesei (Michael) (Astigmata Acaridae). The use of fermented fruit, vegetables or of an artificial diet to induce egg laying proved to be attractive for small flies such as M. scalaris. This species also takes advantage of the aqueous sugar solution used to feed BSF adults. Infestations by M. scalaris are worrying because its larvae can compete efficiently with those of the BSF in substrate colonisation. Likewise, M. stabulans can be attracted by the substrates, even though this species has not shown the same levels of high competitiveness as the previously mentioned species. M. pharaonis was observed to prey on eggs and newborn BSF larvae. Lastly, infestations by the mite C. berlesei were detected when conditions for the larval development of the BSF were not optimal. This species could also be harmful for the workers involved in the breeding. The establishment of insect and mite populations inside BSF rearing boxes suggests that a careful analysis should be made based on the location of the breeding facility and a series of measures should of course be adopted when this kind of structure and activities are designed and realised.

The Inventory of Soil Ants in Residential Area of Palembang

The purpose of this research is to find out the species of soil ants in the residential area. The sampling method is hand collecting and baited trap (tuna and honey). There are 8 species found: Acanthomyrmex sp., Solenopsis germinata, Monomorium pharaonis, Pheidole megacephala, Paratrechina longicornis. Tapinoma melanocephalum, Camponotus ligniperda, Diacamma intricatum. The most numerous species, namely Pheidole megacephala and the least species, namely Diacamma intricatum. Ant species diversity tends to increase, as human activity decreases

An updated checklist of Nepalese ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

The location of Nepal in the Central Himalaya promotes high habitat and species diversity. Ant diversity is likely high, but there have been few studies of the diversity and distribution of ants in Nepal. Here we present an updated checklist list of Nepalese ants that includes 128 named species in 48 genera and eight subfamilies. Among these species, 21 species have a type locality from Nepal, nine species are endemic to Nepal, and three are introduced species. We add six new ant records for Nepal, namely Harpegnathos venator, Monomorium pharaonis, Nylanderia bourbonica, Odontoponera denticulata, Polyrhachis tyrannica and Pseudoneoponera bispinosa. The checklist presents distribution records for Nepalese ant species and provides comparisons with the neighboring countries of China and India.

From egg to adult: a developmental table of the ant Monomorium pharaonis

Ants exhibit remarkable phenotypic diversity and, with over approximately 16,000 species across 6 continents, represent one of the most evolutionarily and ecologically successful groups of animals. All ants are eusocial with a reproductive division of labor between morphologically and/or behaviourally distinct castes within a single species. This has made ants an ideal system to study core questions of eco-evo-devo (ecological evolutionary developmental biology) by highlighting the role of developmental plasticity, epigenetics, ancestral developmental potentials, modularity, and major evolutionary transitions in the evolutionary process. Yet, despite their importance for eco-evo-devo, no complete ontological series for an ant has been published to date. We therefore present the first developmental table in ants, from egg to adult, for the Myrmicine ant Monomorium pharaonis. We identified and characterized 17 embryonic stages, 3 larval instars, and prepupal/pupal development. We found that the majority of landmarks identified during embryogenesis in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster are conserved in M. pharaonis. Furthermore, we can morphologically discriminate reproductive larvae (queen and male-destined larvae) from one another after the 1st larval instar. Finally, this ontological series of M. pharaonis will serve as a blueprint for the generation of future ant developmental tables, which is key to understanding how the remarkable diversity in ants evolved.

High-quality chromosome-level genome assembly and full-length transcriptome analysis of the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis

Background Ants with complex societies have fascinated scientists for centuries. Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses across ant species and castes have revealed important insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying ant caste differentiation. However, most current ant genomes and transcriptomes are highly fragmented and incomplete, which hinders our understanding of the molecular basis for complex ant societies. Findings By hybridizing Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, and Hi-C sequencing technologies, we de novo assembled a chromosome-level genome for Monomorium pharaonis, with a scaffold N50 of 27.2 Mb. Our new assembly provides better resolution for the discovery of genome rearrangement events at the chromosome level. Analysis of full-length isoform sequencing (ISO-seq) suggested that ∼15 Gb of ISO-seq data were sufficient to cover most expressed genes, but the number of transcript isoforms steadily increased with sequencing data coverage. Our high-depth ISO-seq data greatly improved the quality of gene annotation and enabled the accurate detection of alternative splicing isoforms in different castes of M. pharaonis. Comparative transcriptome analysis across castes based on the ISO-seq data revealed an unprecedented number of transcript isoforms, including many caste-specific isoforms. We also identified a number of conserved long non-coding RNAs that evolved specifically in ant lineages and several that were conserved across insect lineages. Conclusions We produced a high-quality chromosome-level genome for M. pharaonis, which significantly improved previous short-read assemblies. Together with full-length transcriptomes for all castes, we generated a highly accurate annotation for this ant species. These long-read sequencing results provide a useful resource for future functional studies on the genetic mechanisms underlying the evolution of social behaviors and organization in ants.

Identification of a queen pheromone mediating the rearing of adult sexuals in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis

The division of labour between reproductive queens and mostly sterile workers is among the defining characteristics of social insects. Queen-produced chemical signals advertising her presence and fertility status, i.e. queen pheromones, are normally used to assert the queen's reproductive dominance in the colony. Most queen pheromones identified to date are chemicals that stop the daughter workers from reproducing. Nevertheless, it has long been suggested that queen pheromones could also regulate reproduction in different ways. In some multiple-queen ants with obligately sterile workers, for example—such as fire ants and pharaoh ants—queen pheromones are thought to regulate reproduction by inhibiting the rearing of new sexuals. Here, we identify the first such queen pheromone in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis and demonstrate its mode of action via bioassays with the pure biosynthesized compound. In particular, we show that the monocyclic diterpene neocembrene, which in different Monomorium species is produced solely by fertile, egg-laying queens, strongly inhibits the rearing of new sexuals (queens and males) and also exerts a weakly attractive ‘queen retinue’ effect on the workers. This is the first time that a queen pheromone with such a dual function has been identified in a social insect species with obligately sterile workers.

POLA PRILAKU KEBERADAAN SEMUT FAMILI FORMICIDAE PADA TEPIAN SUNGAI MUSI GANDUS KOTA PALEMBANG SUMATERA SELATAN

Abstrak: Faktor alam dan lingkungan dapat mempengaruhi pola keberadaan semut. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari pola keberadaan semut tanah di area permukiman tepian Sungai Musi Kecamatan Gandus Palembang. Metode penelitian ini adalah deskriftif.Stasiun penelitian meliputi rumah, tepi sungai, semak, butan dan kebun. Pengambilan contoh sampel semut menggunakan metode hand collecting dan perangkap umpan (baited trap).Hasil penelitian semut tanah Solenopsis germinata dan Paratrechina longicornis hampir ditemukan disemua stasiun.Spesies semut yang paling sedikit ditemukan, yaitu Diacamma intricatum danPheidole megacephala. Rumah kurang dari 100 m dari tepi sungai Musi ditemukan tiga spesies semut, yaitu dua dari subsuku Myrmicinae dan satu dari Formicinae (S. germinata, P. megacephala dan P. longicornis). Ketiga spesies ini sama dengan yang ditemakan pada semak-semak. Lokasi yang berjarak 100-200 m dari tepi sungai memiliki komposisi dan keanekaragaman semut yang semakin meningkat. Stasiun rumah ditemukan sebanyak tiga spesies, yaitu S. germinata, Pheidole sp, dan P. longicornis. Stasiun semakditemukantiga jenis semut, yaitu S. Germinate, Monomorium pharaonisdan T. melanocephalum. Stasiun kebun ditemukan empat spesies, yaitu: Acanthomyrmex sp., S. germinata, P. longicornis, danCamponotus ligniperda.Stasiun hutan ditemukan enam spesies yaitu: Acanthomyrmex sp., S. germinata, P.longicornis, Camponotus ligniperda danDiacamma intricatum. Jumlah jenis semut yang paling banyak ditemukan adalah di stasiun hutan. Pola keberadaan semut di berbagai lokasi tepian sungai Musi Gandus Palembang memiliki pola fluktuasi jumlah dan jenisnya.Kata kunci: semut tanah, pola keberadaan, sungai Musi danPalembangAbstract: The natural and environmental factors can affect the pattern of ants. This study aims to study the pattern of the presence of soil ants in the settlement area of the banks of the Musi River, Gandus, Palembang. This research method is descriptive. The research station includes houses, river banks, bushes, butane and gardens. The sampling ant samples using the method of hand collecting and baited traps. The results of research on the ground ants Solenopsis germinata and Paratrechina longicornis are found in almost all of stations. The fewest ant species found were Diacamma intricatum and Pheidole megacephala. The houses less than 100 m from the banks of the Musi river are found by three ant species, namely two from the Myrmicinae sub-tribe and one from Formicinae (S. germinata, P. megacephala and P. longicornis). These three species are the same as those found in bushes. The location which is 100-200 m from the river bank has an ant composition and diversity that is increasing. The housestations were found as many as three species, namely S. germinata, Pheidole sp, and P. longicornis. The bush station found three types of ants, namely S. Germinate, Monomorium pharaonis and T. melanocephalum. The garden station found four species, namely: Acanthomyrmex sp., S. germinata, P. longicornis, and Camponotus ligniperda. The forest station found six species, namely: Acanthomyrmex sp., S. germinata, P.longicornis, Camponotus ligniperda and Diacamma intricatum. The number of ant species most commonly found is at the forest station. It can be concluded that the pattern of the presence of ants in various locations on the banks of the Palembang Gandus Musi river has a fluctuation in the number and type.Keywords: soil ants, existance pattern, Musi river, Palembang