Acromyrmex echinatior explained

Acromyrmex echinatior is a species of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Acromyrmex. It is found in the wild naturally from Mexico to Panama.^[1]

In Costa Rica, this species prefers open dry habitats such as urban areas around San Jose and seasonally dry habitats of Guanacaste Province. There is evidence to suggest that this species nests may occasionally be arboreal.

Queens multiply mate, and colonies are facultatively polygynous. Nonreproductive workers of the colony 'police', that is, selectively destroy worker-laid eggs, but do not attack reproductive workers. Relatedness incentives are the most likely ultimate cause of the evolutionary maintenance of worker–egg policing in A. echinatior.^[2]

See also

• List of leafcutter ants

References

• Dorte Bekkevold, Jane Frydenberg & Jacobus J. Boomsma . 1999 . Multiple mating and facultative polygyny in the Panamanian leafcutter ant Acromyrmex echinatior . . 46 . 2 . 103–109 . 4601648 . 10.1007/s002650050598. 33073048 .
• T. R. Schultz, D. Bekkevold & J. J. Boomsma . 1998 . Acromyrmex insinuator new species: an incipient social parasite of fungus-growing ants . . 45 . 4 . 457–471 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726032611/http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Bekkevold/Acromyrmex%20insinuator.pdf . dead . 2011-07-26 . 10.1007/s000400050101 . 10.1.1.569.6661 . 24823552 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Species: Acromyrmex echinatior . . . March 5, 2011.
2. Dijkstra . Michiel B. . Workers of Acromyrmex echinatior leafcutter ants police worker-laid eggs, but not reproductive workers . Animal Behaviour . September 2010 . 80 . 3 . 487–495 . 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.06.011 . 53168737 . 16 February 2021.