Better than a Christmas Stocking
(I wrote this to try to share the excitement of discovering new ants and identifying them. I thought I would share this as a journal post here as well. Unfortunately the mini trap draw ants, Strumigenys are so tiny that I am unable to get a photo but you can see this and some other species at Alex Wild's site: http://www.alexanderwild.com/)
When I was a kid, Christmas morning was a great time. My brothers and I would rise early and dive into our Christmas stockings crammed full with toys and candies. There were things we always expected like the maple sugar Santa Claus, a tangerine, and a toothbrush but there were also surprises – toys and puzzles we hadn’t imagined. We spent most of the day playing with these toys, sharing them, and making up new games.
Today, I have a similar experience with ants—Yes, those six-legged creatures that you don’t want at your picnic. For the past few years I have been catching ants with pitfall traps in the Fort Worth Nature Center of Fort Worth, Texas. Ants wander into the traps. Then, I collect them.
Setting out the traps is hard work but because ants come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, waiting to see the ants is exciting. I sometimes dream about the ants: What might I find? Ones I expect or something new? Looking over the catch is like dumping out my Christmas stocking: I have some idea what might be there but there could be surprises.
Having collected ants in the Fort Worth Nature Center over three years now, I am used to particular ants – like the maple sugar Santa Claus, they have become old friends. While I am glad to see them, they are not quite so exciting as the first time I saw them. This summer, the last ant of the last pitfall trap was a new ant – that is, new to me. This ant was a queen ant, so she could have started a new colony. She was not only a new species, she was a new genus and a new tribe.
This ant was a trap-jaw ant called Strumigenys louisinae. This particular ant is quite small and so is difficult to find. These ants eat tiny insects called springtails (Collembola) which have springs in their abdomens that allow them to quickly escape from predators. The ants have jaws that are long and narrow with special teeth at the end. Their heart-shaped heads contain strong muscles necessary to operate the jaws. Holding the jaws open, the ant makes a trap which closes with lightning speed: snap! and the springtail is lunch.
I have found lots of springtails in the pitfall traps. Now I know what is eating them: this trap-jaw ant. I am wondering more about this trap-jaw ant but also what other ants are in the Fort Worth Nature Center and what interesting ways of life do they have. Lucky for me I still have more collections to make, so, I continue to dream of the interesting ants I have yet to discover, not only in Texas but in other places too. What ants are in your area and what do they do?
Acknowledgements: I am able to discover such cool ants thanks to the staff of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Wildlife Refuge and the Parks and Community Service Department of the city of Fort Worth, Texas.
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