Indian jumping ant, Jerdon's jumping ant
Harpegnathos saltator, sometimes called the Indian jumping ant or Jerdon's jumping ant, is a species of ant found in India. They have long mandibles and have the ability to leap a few inches. They are large-eyed and active predators that hunt mainly in the early morning. The colonies are small and the difference between workers and queens is very slight.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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starts withThe following is the original description by T. C. Jerdon.
The following is the taxonomic description from C. T. Bingham's Fauna of British India (Hymenoptera – Volume 2):
Unlike other ants, they are seen singly or in small groups and their colonies consist of very few individuals. They are also unusual amongst ants in that the queen-worker difference is very limited and some workers can mate and lay fertilized eggs just like the queen. These workers are termed gamergates. New colonies are founded independently by single queens, and on aging, they are replaced by several gamergates. The gamergates copulate with males from their own colonies, and being inbred, are related to the original founding queen. Colonies never undergo fission to form new colonies.
The workers limit the number of reproductives in the colony by policing new workers that try to lay eggs when an active queen or established gamergates are present. Workers use alarm pheromones that include 4-methyl-3-heptanone, 4-methyl-3-heptanol, and isopentyl isopentanoate. H. saltator, like many species of ants, produces 4-methyl-3-heptanone from mandibular glands. Dufour's gland secretions have been found to include a complex mixture of linear hydrocarbons from C15 to C25, with (Z)-9-tricosene being the main constituent, along with other minor constituents such as tetradecyl propionate and traces of tetradecyl acetate and dodecyl acetate. Both the secretions from the postpharyngeal glands and the cuticular wax include methyl esters of common fatty acids.
Their leaps are accomplished by synchronized abduction of the middle and hind pairs of legs. They can jump up to 2 cm high and 10 cm far. These leaps are made not only to escape, but also to catch flying prey. The workers forage only during the cool hours of the morning and afternoon with a lull in activity during midday.
The nest entrance is usually a low mound on the ground with the entrance surrounded by twigs and leaves. The nest entrance is closed by the ants in the evening, and is reopened in the day. The main chamber has a funnel-like opening in the antechamber, and this structure is believed to prevent flooding of the main chamber.
A study of the genome and expressed genes found that the production of enzymes that slow aging (telomerase and sirtuin deacetylases) are increased when workers turn into queens. The workers also undergo a reduction in their brain size upon becoming reproductives (or gamergates).
