This document provides an overview of the taxonomy, evolution, distribution, morphology, lifecycle, behavior, ecology, and relationship with humans of ants. It notes that ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors over 100 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. There are over 13,800 classified ant species worldwide belonging to 21 subfamilies and 300 genera. Ants exhibit a variety of morphologies and behaviors including polymorphism. Their lifecycle involves eggs laid by a queen that develop into larvae fed by workers and later emerge as ants. Ants play important ecological roles while some species have relationships with humans as pests, biological controls, or in cultivation practices.

1. TAXONOMY AND BIONOMY OF ANTS
(SEMUT101)
Purnama Hidayat, Rizky Nazarreta
September 23, 2022

2. Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

3. Ants
 Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors
in the mid-Cretaceous period between
110 and 130 million years ago
 Ants are social insect of the order
Hymenoptera, Family Formicidae
https://www.britannica.com/animal/ant

4.  Ants have the greatest diversity after the
appearance of flowering plants
 More than 13,800 of the estimated total
22,000 species have been classified
 They are easily identified by their geniculate
antennae (elbows) and the typical knot-like
structure that forms their slender 'waist' https://www.britannica.com/animal/ant
Ants

5. Ants
 With around 13,800 species worldwide,
ranging in length from less than 1mm to
30mm, weight 2-10 mg
 The BBC Four documentary claims the
number of ants is 100 trillion
 The total weight of ants is about equal
the total weight of humans

6.  Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

7. Older ants in the genus Sphecomyrmodes have been
found in 99 million year-old amber from Myanmar.
A 2006 study suggested that ants arose tens of
millions of years earlier than previously thought, up
to 168 million years ago.
After the rise of flowering plants about 100 million
years ago they diversified and assumed ecological
dominance around 60 million years ago (Barden and
Grimaldi, 2014).
Taxonomy and evolution

8. Ants evolved from a lineage within the stinging wasps, and a 2013 study suggests that
they are a sister group of the Apoidea
Classification and Phylogeny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant

9. A phylogeny of the extant ant subfamilies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
21 subfamilies, 300 genera, 13,800 species

10. Genome size

11.  Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

12. Source: Hölldobler & Wilson (1990)
Region Number of species
Neotropics 2162
Neartic 580
Europe 180
Africa 2500
Asia 2080
Melanesia 275
Australia 985
Polynesia 42
© M. Badrus Sholih

13.  Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

14. Polymorphism
Seven leafcutter ant workers of various castes (left) and two queens (right)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant#Taxonomy_and_evolution

15. Body Part of Ants
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant#Taxonomy_and_evolution

16.  Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

17. Ants Life Cycle
https://askabiologist.asu.edu/individual-life-cycle
• The queen ant lays some eggs
• These hatch into grubs or larvae
• The worker ants feed them
• They make a pupae
• In a few more weeks they
become an ant

18.  Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

19. Ants are social insects with specific roles to play
 Haven’t changed in last 35 million years
 Drones; males are short lived, may fertilize one queen
 Queen lays eggs (fertilized and unfertilized)
 Workers switch professions several times (soldier, forager, larva care)
Dichthadiiform queen of Aenictus laeviceps and workers.
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Caste_Terminology

20.  Ants
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Life cycle
Behaviour and ecology
Relationship with humans

21. Roles and Relationship with Humans
 Ants have a major influence in ecosystems
worldwide and their roles are diverse.
While some ants are considered pests,
others act as biological-control agents
 Ants causes fermentation of dead plants and
animals enrich the soil with minerals for
better crops
 Ants are used in the cultivation of orange in
China
 Cross pollination
 Predator
https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/09/ants-are-destroying-your-plants-by-nurturing-perfect-aphid-colonies/
Ants from the species Pheidole megacephala tending aphids. They protect
the tiny insects from predators and milk them for a sugary fluid called
honeydew.

22. Edward O. Wilson, pioneering biologist known as ‘ant
man,’ dead at 92
Ant-Man is a 2015 American superhero
film based on the Marvel Comics

24. New Species Ants of Jambi
Overbeckia jambiensis

27. Terimo
kasih