Tues 3: Insects of Mt. Royal's Journal

September 19, 2021

Emily hardie - Bioblitz Journal Entry on Black Garden Ants

The black garden ant is a type of species of the subgenus Lasius, commonly located in North America, South America, Europe, and Eurasia. They build their nests underground, typically underneath a stone, which is where our group spotted the colony. Most of the eggs that were spotted were not larva but were turned into pupa, the phase right before the eggs cocoon and metamorphosizes. An evolutionary change in black garden ants can be detected by the strength of odor’s they produce. Pheromones, which are alarm hormones that are released from the lobe of antenna communicate messages with other ants in the colony. In recent studies, the glomerulus in the antenna has become enlarged, and thus the ants are releasing a stronger chemical signal to other ants. When our group lifted the rock from the ant colony, we saw a rapid, and unified effort from the black ants to protect the eggs. We were shocked at the efficiency of the black ants moving their colony further underground. Ants from underground had come up to surface level to help the ants carry the eggs. By the time we placed the rock back to where it was, the colony had moved around 50% of the visible eggs from the location. Similarly, after looking at microscopic images from analyses from studies online, one can see the enlargement of the glomerulus in the antenna of black garden ants in North America. Due to the pheromones, the ants were able to quickly communicate to each other that there were intruders near their colony and they efficiently moved the eggs to a safer location. This adaption is beneficial for black ants as faster communication can warn and protect the colony from danger.

Posted on September 19, 2021 03:48 PM by emilyhardie emilyhardie | 0 comments | Leave a comment

September 18, 2021

Matthew Wong - Bioblitz Journal Entry

European earwigs (also known as forficula auricularia) are common in North America and using by OneZoom, it can be determined that they are found in the the arthropoda phylum, its class is the Insecta Class, in the Dermaptera Order. Going further into its scientific classification, European earwigs are in the foriculidae family, its genus being forficula (which is part of its binomial name). After doing some reasearch, it can be determined that there are no specific adaptations that all of my obersved species display in my group project. This is most likely due to the fact that the species recorded are very unique and diverse, making their needs quite different from eachother, thus having very diverse adaptations as a result. When looking at one unique adaptation for one of my observations, European earwigs have a very interesting reproductive adaptation that allows them to survive in the harsh winters in Canada. European earwigs in North America comprise of two sibling species, which are reproductively isolated. Populations in cold continental climates (most of Canada) mostly have one clutch per year, forming species A, whereas those in warmer climates have two clutches per year, forming species B (Southern United States).

Posted on September 18, 2021 06:31 PM by matthew-wong matthew-wong | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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