Polyergus samurai

<h2 id="distribution">Distribution</h2>
<p>It was long thought <a href="/facts/Endemism/xt4IpIsl">endemic</a> to Japan,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> but is now also known from Korea and northeastern China.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
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<h2 id="description">Description</h2>
<p>The queen and workers of this slave-maker ant species are black or dark brown in color (unlike the more western species) generally matching the host species in color.
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<h2 id="behavior">Behavior</h2>
<p>Like other species of the genus, it is a <a href="/facts/Parasite/HWPcgky7">parasite</a> to host <i><a href="/facts/Formica/3pfJt0uy">Formica</a></i> ant species. The colony begins when a young queen leaves her parent colony and mates. The queen then searches for a suitable host colony. When the <i>P. samurai</i> queen invades the host <i>Formica japonica</i> colony, she kills the resident <i>Formica</i> queen or queens and adopts the colony's scent. She then takes the role as queen, laying eggs destined to become her first "slave"-makers. When the original <i>Formica</i> work force is starting to die out, the new workers of the colony begin to search for other colonies of the <i>Formica</i> to raid. Once a colony is located, workers will gather above the nest before leaving in a large group to the nest. Once workers reach the host <i>Formica</i> nest they rush in and attempt to steal as many large <a href="/facts/Larva/GKo2FIew">larvae</a> and <a href="/facts/Pupa/0u7NE8Cq">pupae</a> as possible before returning to the nest with them, destined to become workers for the <i>P. samurai</i> colony. Such raids never kill the queen of suitable host <i>Formica</i> species, so the colony can be raided repeatedly over the summer.
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<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li> Media related to Polyergus samurai at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Social Insects Specialist Group (1996). "Polyergus samurai". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T17930A7637638. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T17930A7637638.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021. <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17930/7637638" target="_blank">https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17930/7637638</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Trager, James C. (2013). "Global revision of the genus Polyergus". Zootaxa. 3722 (4): 501–548. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3722.4.5. PMID 26171540. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Купянская А. Н. 1990. Муравьи Дальнего Востока СССР. – Владивосток: ДВО АН СССР. – 258 с. (с.209–210) <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Polyergus samurai open-in-new

Polyergus samurai