Gigantiops destructor Fabricius, 1804
Here, I show specimen photos of Gigantiops destructor.
This specimen was kindly provided by Dr. Naoto Idogawa from Nagoya University.
It is not a native species of Japan; it is found in South America.
Hover your mouse over the images to zoom in. The intricate details are beautifully captured through focus stacking. Please take your time to explore and enjoy every detail.
worker
Queen
Male
Gallery
Ecology and ethology
This species is primarily polydomous and nests underground. Its foraging behavior is particularly unique: workers use their excellent vision to visually detect and leap onto prey (Beugnon et al., 2001). They exhibit complete solitary foraging, even engaging in kleptobiosis, where individuals fight over prey with nestmates. Prey are often chewed and consumed on site, without being carried back to the nest, and workers continue to forage immediately after. It is also known that individuals can jump more than 30 cm while carrying termites. Workers navigate visually and return to the nest in an almost straight line.
Additionally, studies have shown route memory in arenas with complex local landmarks (Macquart et al., 2006), and the ability to learn complex Y-shaped mazes without relying on visual navigation (Macquart et al., 2008).
References
Beugnon, G., Chagné, P., & Dejean, A. (2001). Colony structure and foraging behavior in the tropical formicine ant, Gigantiops destructor. Insectes Sociaux, 48(4), 347–351.
https://doi.org/10.1007/pl00001788
Macquart, D., Garnier, L., Combe, M., & Beugnon, G. (2006). Ant navigation en route to the goal: signature routes facilitate way-finding of Gigantiops destructor. Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 192(3), 221–234.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-005-0064-7
Macquart, D., Latil, G., & Beugnon, G. (2008). Sensorimotor sequence learning in the ant Gigantiops destructor. Animal Behaviour, 75(5), 1693–1701.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.10.023
