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Species diversity of ants in the city

Introduction

Chapter 1 Literature Review

1.1 Morphology

1.2 Biology of ants

1.3 Ecology of ants

1.3.1 Composition of the family. Separation of functions

1.3.2 Power

1.4 Ants of Belarus

Chapter 2. Materials and methods of research

2.1 Brief description of the study area

2.2 Description of trial sites

2.3 Collection methods

2.4 Mathematical processing of data

Chapter 3. Results of the study

3.1 Taxonomic analysis of collected material

Bibliographic list

Introduction

Ants (Formicidae) are the largest family of insects in terms of the number of individuals. And in terms of the number of species, few families can argue with him. Now there are approximately 6,000 species of ants, but given that every year more and more new species and genera are described and the fact that ants in many regions of the globe are almost not studied, this number will be significantly increased.

The relevance of studying this topic lies in the fact that at present, a person, expanding the scale of economic activity, everywhere involves ants in the sphere of his direct influence, while changing their habitat.

The life of forest ants is closely connected with the forest. But not in every forest they can live. If a person changes nature, he also changes the conditions in which signs of fitness were formed. Therefore, interacting with nature, conducting observations, experiments, it is necessary to strictly observe the laws of nature itself.

In temperate forests and tropical forests, ants provide movement and aeration of the soil. Many earthen species of ants are soil formers, loosening, mixing, fertilizing the soil. Their soil-forming activity consists in mixing the soil, changing its mechanical and chemical composition. In tropical rainforests, 99.9% of the nutrients would remain in the topsoil if not transported deeper, including by ants. Many ants are also important links in food chains as invertebrate predators. Ants that settle in wood or arrange their nests in old stumps take part in the mechanical destruction of dead wood, accelerating the processes of its decomposition. Seed-eating ants directly contribute to the dispersal of many plant species. The seeds of some plants (the so-called myrmecochore plants) are settled only by ants (hoof, violets, blueberries, etc.). In the steppes and desert regions, the seeds of many plants are dispersed exclusively by ants]. Ants are the only insects that disperse seeds in large numbers, on all continents and in almost all ecosystems.

aim present work is clarifying species diversity ants in the territory of Grodno.

Based on their goal, the following tasks are defined:

1) establishing the biological diversity of ants in selected biotopes on the territory of the city;

1) study of species abundance within the selected biotope;

3) to characterize the features of the ecology of ants in the territory of Grodno.

Chapter 1 Literature Review

1.1 Morphology

Ants differ in their morphology from other insects in the presence of cranked antennae, a metapleural gland, and a strong narrowing of the second abdominal segment into a petiole knot. The head, mesosome, and abdomen are three distinct body segments. The petiole is the narrow waist between the mesosoma (the three thoracic segments, as well as the first abdominal segment that merges with them) and the abdomen (the abdominal segments after the petiole). It may consist of one or two segments (only the second or second and third abdominal segments). The abdomen and petiole are united together to form a metasome .

Like other insects, ants have an exoskeleton, an outer chitinous shell that provides support and protection to the body. The nervous system consists of the ventral nerve chain, which is located along the entire length of the body, and several nerve nodes connected to each other. The most important part nervous system is the supraesophageal ganglion, in which temporary connections are formed. Its volume is relatively largest in workers, less in queens, and smallest in males.

Like most insects, ants have compound eyes made up of numerous tiny lenses. Ant eyes distinguish movement well, but do not have high resolution. In addition to the compound eye, there are three simple eyes on the top of the head, which determine the level of illumination and the plane of polarization of light. Compared to vertebrates, most ants have mediocre vision, and some subterranean species are completely blind.

The antennae on the head are sensory organs that detect chemicals, air currents and vibrations, and are also used to receive and transmit signals through touch.

The head of ants has strong mandibles that are used to carry food, manipulate various objects, build a nest, and defend. In some ants, these mandibles open 270 and snap like traps, for example, in such genera as Anochetus, Odontomachus, Myrmoteras, Strumigenys. Some species have a small outgrowth of the esophagus called the "public stomach" or goiter. It can store food, which is subsequently distributed among other ants and larvae.

A hooked claw at the end of each foot helps the ant climb vertical surfaces. Most queens and male ants have wings. Queens gnaw off their wings after their mating flight.

The ant's abdomen contains internal organs, including reproductive and excretory glands. Worker ants of many species have a modified ovipositor in the form of a sting at the end of the abdomen, which is used to obtain food, as well as protect the nest or attack (for example, in myrmicina, Myrmeciinae, Paraponerinae, ponerin, etc.). In primitive forms of the Myrmicina subfamily, the sting is reduced, and in evolutionarily advanced forms it is modified, while even in the primitive genera of this group it is unable to effectively paralyze the prey.

Signal substances are secreted by special glands. At various kinds there may be dozens of ants. These glands differ in number, shape, and function and never occur simultaneously in the same species. The exocrine system in ants is well developed and includes more than 75 glands.

The metapleural glands secrete antibiotic substances(eg, phenylacetic acid), and sometimes also alarm pheromones and repellants to protect against enemies. However, they are absent in a number of species leading an arboreal lifestyle. For defense and attack, the sex glands are also used, which have changed their purpose in working individuals. Among them are the poisonous gland, which produces acidic excretion, and Dufour's glands, which produce alkaline excretion, various hydrocarbons, ketones, alcohols, esters, and lactones. Formic acid is the basis of the venom of many non-stinging species. Such ants spray the secret at a distance of several centimeters, while releasing "alarm pheromones".

The pygidial glands open posteriorly by ducts on the upper side of the abdomen. In a number of species, they produce alarm pheromones and repellents, in others, trace pheromones. The sternal glands open with ducts on the underside of the abdomen and secrete trace and calling pheromones. The mandibular glands open with ducts to inside chewed.

Previously, entomologists believed that all ants were capable of secreting poisonous formic acid (hence its name), but now it is known that only representatives of the formycin subfamily are capable of this. .

1.2 Biology of ants

Ants, as representatives of insects with complete transformation, go through several stages in their development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The development cycle of ants, like all other Hymenoptera, includes a complete transformation (holometabolism). The larva hatches from the egg - the only growing stage of the insect.

The life of an ant begins with an egg. If the egg is fertilized, then a female will grow out of it, and if not, then a male. Usually eggs are not stored individually, but in small "packages". After the incubation period, a sedentary worm-like larva emerges from the egg, which is fed and cared for by working individuals. The outer integument of the larva can only stretch to certain limits, and molting occurs during growth. Accordingly, it is customary to distinguish between several age stages of the larva. Ants typically have four larval stages culminating in pupation, although some species may have three or five larval stages. Feeding of the larva is carried out with the help of trophallaxis, when the ant regurgitates liquid food from its crop - as in the exchange of food between adults storing food in "social stomachs". The larvae may also consume solid food, such as forage eggs, pieces of prey, or seeds brought by workers. In some species, the larvae are carried directly to the place where the prey was captured. Before pupation, the larva stops feeding and excretes the contents of its intestines. In some species (for example, representatives of the subfamilies formycins, ponerins, Amblyoponinae) ant larvae weave a cocoon before pupation. The pupa is free - the imago appendages inside it are free and not merged with the body. Depending on the nutrition that the larva receives, it can develop into a queen or a working individual. If the species has a division of workers into castes, then nutrition also determines which caste the future ant imago will belong to. The larvae and pupae need to be kept at a certain constant temperature, so workers often move them from one nest chamber to another with more suitable conditions. After the pupal stage is completed, the worker ants help the new individual to emerge from it, since the ant is not able to open the cocoon on its own.

New workers spend the first few days of their lives caring for the queen and brood. They then usually go about digging tunnels and doing other work inside the nest. Subsequently, the ant becomes a defender of the nest and a forager. These changes are quite sudden and are examples of temporary castes. The explanation for this sequence is related to the high mortality among foragers.

In most ant species, only females (future queens) and males have the ability to mate. Contrary to popular belief, some ant colonies may have multiple queens (polygyny), while others may not have a queen at all. Workers capable of reproduction are called gamergates, and families in which there is no queen are called gamergates. Winged male ants emerge from their pupae together with future queens and only feed and mate throughout their lives. Most ants are monovoltine, that is, only one generation develops per year. At a certain point in time, which depends on the species, winged females and males leave the nest and go on a mating flight. As a rule, males take off before females and release pheromones that make them follow them. The females of most species mate with only one male, but there are also species whose females mate with ten or more males. After mating, the female looks for a suitable place to create a new anthill. Having found one, she bites off her wings and digs the first chamber of the future nest, and then begins to lay eggs and care for them. The queen stores the sperm obtained during the nuptial flight and fertilizes her eggs with it. The first workers in the new family are weak and small in size compared to later workers. They enlarge the nest, forage and care for the brood. This is how new families are created in most species, however, there are species in which several queens form a colony at once. At a certain time, one of the queens with the "retinue" leaves the family and moves to a new place.

Ants have a wide range of reproductive strategies. For example, females of some species are able to reproduce by asexual reproduction (parthenogenesis), in which females are born from unfertilized eggs.

A unique variant of natural cloning exists in the lesser fire ant, whose males and females reproduce by cloning independently so that the gene pools of both sexes do not mix. In this species, working individuals develop from fertilized eggs, uterus - from unfertilized diploid eggs. In some eggs fertilized by males, all the mother's chromosomes are destroyed, and males develop from such haploid eggs.

Reproduction and resettlement of ants occurs once a year (in some species, twice a year).

1.3 Ecology of ants

1.3.1 Composition of the family. Separation of functions

For most of the year, an ant colony consists of one or more fertile females, a large number of workers, and brood (eggs, larvae, pupae). If there is one fertile female in the family, is she called monogynous, if there are many? polygynous. Number of females in polygynous colonies Formica polyctena reaches several hundred. In most species, only young or weak families are monogynous, but there are exceptions.

Number of workers in adult families different types ants depends on the level of social organization of the species and varies from a few dozen individuals in our Ponerinae up to several million Formica rufa and tropical nomad ants. The number of brood in the family varies greatly during the year.

The only function of the female in the nest is to lay eggs. Between workers there is a division of functions, or polyethism, which can be age or caste. The first is understood as a regular change in the range of work performed by ants in a nest throughout their lives. Typically, young workers perform various works caring for the female and brood. After that, they become builders, and then - foragers. At Formica rufa the oldest ants become watchmen on the dome. Caste polyethism refers to differences in the scope of work for ants of the same age, due to differences in their size and structure.

The formation of new families. Once a year, at different times, winged sexual individuals, young females and males, appear in the nests of various species of ants. At the appropriate moment, usually more or less simultaneously in different nests of the same species, the mating season begins. Winged ants climb plants and fly into the air. in some species, such as Monomorium, Diplorchoptrum and Lasius, mating begins in the air and ends on the ground. Others, such as Tapinoma, Formica and cataglyphis, females quickly descend and run on the ground, and males either fly up or run up to them, and mating takes place on the ground. One female in many species can mate with several males. The stock of sperm received by the female during the mating season is stored in her spermatheca for life; There are no re-matings.

After mating, the males die, and the females shed their wings and start building a new nesting chamber. Sometimes several sleds join together and establish the original nest together. This phenomenon is called pleometrosis. Usually only one of these females remains afterwards. In primitive ants, for example Amblyorone and Manica rubida, the founding female sometimes leaves the nest and hunts. But in most ants, she does not leave the nest and does not receive food until the first working individuals appear. For feeding offspring, they use part of the laid eggs and secretions of glands. At the same time, the accumulated reserves of fat are consumed and the wing muscles are resorbed.

After the first working individuals emerge from the pupae, they make their way outside the chamber and begin to forage. From this point on, the female only lays eggs. Workers care for the new brood and expand the nest as the colony size increases. From year to year, the number grows, the nest increases, and finally the number of ants reaches the level at which the family can raise winged females and males. This usually happens in the 3-4th year of a family's life.

In addition to this method, in many species, in particular Monomorium kusnezovi and Tapinoma karavaevi, new families can be formed by dividing the old family. At some distance from the parental nest, a daughter nest, or layers, is built, where some of the workers with brood and one or more females move. Between the layer and the maternal nest, a connection is maintained for some time and there is an exchange of working individuals and brood.

1.3.2 Power

All species of ants living in the same biogeocenosis form a co-adaptive complex, the members of which in a certain way divide the food resources of the biogeocenosis among themselves. In humid habitats, where the layering of biogeocenoses is more or less pronounced, ants divide the environment mainly along the vertical. dendrobionts (some Camponotus, Crematogaster and Leptothorax) get food in the crowns and on tree trunks, chortobionts - in the herbage, herpetobionts ( Tetramorium, Aphaenogaster, Formica etc.) - on the soil surface, stratobionts ( Myrmica, Ponera, Leptothorax etc.) in bedding, geobands ( Lasius flavus) - in the soil. The diet of these ants is quite similar. Here they are zoonecrophages, i.e. they feed on sedentary insects or their corpses, and also visit aphid colonies, from which they receive honeydew.

There are 3 main trophic groups:

1. Carpophages, or ants that feed on plant seeds. Reaper ants belong to this group ( Messor) and small carpophages ( Tetramorium, Pheidole, Monomorium and etc.).

3. Night predators. This group includes representatives of the subgenus Tanaemyrmex kind Camponotus. Basically the nature of food Tanaemyrmex does not differ from that of other zoonecrophagous herpetobionts, they also collect insect corpses, prey on sedentary invertebrates on the soil surface, or collect aphids. However, these insects start hunting after sunset and finish it in the morning.

Most zoophages and zoonecrophages have a very wide range of food, but some species may have a certain specialization.

1.4 Ants of Belarus

In 2000, Blinov indicated 59 species of ants for Belarus. In 2011, Radchenko indicated already 62 for our republic . fauna indicates 61 species described on the territory of Belarus.

Species of ants of the fauna of Belarus without taking into account subfamilies and tribes.

Camponotus fallax(carpenter ant brilliant)

Camponotus herculeanus(carpenter ant red-breasted)

Camponotus ligniperda(European wood borer ant or red-bellied ant)

Camponotus vagus(black wood borer ant)

Diplorhoptrum fugax(ant-thief brownie)

Dolichoderus quadripunctatus(ant spotted or four-spotted)

Formica aquilonia(northern forest ant)

Formica cinerea ( ant sand gray)

Formica cunicularia(fast steppe ant)

Formica exsecta(ant thin-headed ordinary or red)

Formica forsslundi(Forshlund's ant)

Formica fusca(forest ant dark brown)

Formica lemani

Formica lugubris(red-cheeked forest hairy ant)

Formica picea(ant black shiny or marsh)

Formica polyctena(small forest ant or golospinny)

Formica pratensis(meadow ant)

Formica pressilabris(small thin-headed ant)

Formica rufa(common forest ant)

Formica rufibarbis(red-cheeked miner ant)

Formica sanguinea(slave master ant blood red)

Formica truncorum(red-headed ant)

Formica uralensis(black-headed ant)

Formicoxenus nitidulus(baby ant, or shiny baby ant)

Harpagoxenus sublaevis

Lasius affinis

Lasius alienus(pale-legged garden ant)

Lasius brunneus (lasia oak)

Lasius emarginatus

Lasius flavus (ant earthen (or garden) yellow)

Lasius fuliginosus (ant-carpenter ant odorous )

Lasius hybridus

Lasius mixtus

Lasius niger(common garden ant or black ant)

Lasius platythorax

Lasius umbratus(ant odorous yellow hairy)

Leptothorax acervorum(ant subcrustal)

Leptothorax affinis

Leptothorax corticalis

Leptothorax crassispinus

Leptothorax interruptus

Leptothorax muscorum

Leptothorax tuberum

Leptothorax unifasciatus

Monomorium pharaonis(red house ant or pharaohs)

Myrmecina graminicola

Myrmica gallieni(bog myrmica)

Myrmica lobicornis

Myrmica rubra(red myrmica)

Myrmica ruginodis(wrinkled myrmica)

Myrmica rugulosa(meadow myrmica)

Myrmica sabuleti

Myrmica scabrinodis (mossy myrmica)

Myrmica schenmcki

Polyergus rufescens(ant-amazon yellow)

Sifolinia karavajevi

Stenamma debile

Strongylognathus testaceus

Tapinoma ambiguum(tapinoma unclear)

Tapinoma erraticum(wandering ant, odorous tapinoma)

Tetramorium caespitum(ant sod or meadow)

Chapter 2. Materials and methods of research

2.1 Brief description of the study area

The study of the ant fauna was carried out on the territory of the city of Grodno (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1-Map? Scheme of the city of Grodno.

The city of Grodno is the administrative center of the Grodno region and district, located on the banks of the Neman River (along the middle course), in the northwestern part of the republic near the border with Poland, within the Grodno Upland. Its geographic coordinates are 53? 41 min. northern latitude and 23? 50 min. east longitude, height above sea level - 118 m, the general slope of the surface is directed from south to north. Grodno is a large industrial center and transport hub of Belarus. More than 100 industrial enterprises are located in the city, rail, road and river transport is widely developed. During the year, the city produces up to 12.2 thousand tons of harmful substances.

The climate of Grodno is temperate continental and is determined not only by the geographical position of the city in temperate latitudes, but also by its characteristic atmospheric circulation: the significant influence of marine air masses moving from Atlantic Ocean. The general circulation of the atmosphere determines the predominance of the wind in the western part of the horizon in Grodno, the western direction is also preserved in seasons, the average annual wind speed is 3.9 m/s. The alternation of air masses of different origin creates an unstable type of weather characteristic of the city 13.

The duration of the period with an average daily temperature above 0C - 253 days, the growing season - 199 days, frost-free - 156 days. Frosts in the air on average stop at the beginning of May.

The Neman River and its tributaries flow within the city of Grodno and its environs. The Neman flows in a deep and narrow valley and crosses the city from the southeast to the northwest.

The river valley within Grodno is V-shaped, the slopes are high and steep. The length of the river in the city is 6.6 km. The Neman belongs to the type of lowland rivers with a predominance of snow supply. The runoff regime in the urban context is characterized by a high spring flood, a relatively low summer low water period, and periodic autumn floods. Within the city of Grodno, the Gorodnichanka stream flows, flowing into the Neman on the right, its length is 4.6 km, it begins on the northeastern outskirts of the city, the valley in the upper reaches is swampy, weakly expressed. The width of the channel is 1.5 m. It crosses the central part of the city in pipes or under bridges, flows through the territory of the city parks named after Zhiliber and Kolozhsky. In the lower reaches, the Gorodnichanka valley narrows to 40 m, the slopes are high and steep, the channel width is up to 3 m 4.

The territory of the city and its environs are part of the Grodno-Volkovysk-Lida agro-soil region. Soddy-podzolic soils predominate in public gardens, parks, and household plots of the city and its environs; The natural cover in the city has been greatly changed, and the soils on household plots have been cultivated.

The territory on which Grodno is located belongs to the Eurasian coniferous-forest (taiga) geobotanical region, the subzone of hornbeam-oak-dark coniferous subtaiga forests (spruce-hornbeam oak groves), the Nemansko-Predpolessky district, the Neman geobotanical region (classification by I.D. Yurkevich, V.S. Geltman). The main type of vegetation is forests, which are dominated by pine forests and mixed forests with oak, birch, ash (pine and broad-leaved-pine formation). Wetlands occupy approximately 3% of the territory. The study area belongs to the area of upland lowland meadows. Low-lying meadows predominate, and meadow lands are highly swamped. The floodplains of the rivers are largely peaty, in terms of ecology and geobotanical structure they are hypnum-forb-grass-sedge bogs 3.

For the study, 4 sites were selected, differing in location and nature of vegetation.

2.2 Description of trial sites

Plot 1. A site was selected located on the territory of the so-called Old Park or the Zhiliber Central Park of Culture and Leisure (Figure 2.2). It is located in the city center on Ozheshko Street. The layout is regular, there are few lawns and they are heavily trampled, there is little flowering vegetation. About 30 species of trees and shrubs grow in the park. The grass layer is dominated by bluegrass ( Poaceae sp. ), awnless rump ( Bromopsis inermis), plantain lanceolate ( Plantago lanceolata), common yarrow ( Achillya millefulium). The tree layer is represented by birch povimsla ( Bytula pindula), white willow( Sblix blba), spruce ( Pricea bbies).

Figure 2.2 - Map-scheme of the location of biotope No. 1

Where C is the Jaccard coefficient;

Q- total number species on comparative plots;

a is the number of species in site a;

b is the number of species in site b.

Table 2.1 - Definition of common species composition

Chapter 3. Results of the study

3.1 Taxonomic analysis of collected material

The objects of study are ants.

Kingdom - animals (Animalia or Metazoa)

Section - bilateral or bilaterally symmetrical ( Bilateralia)

Subsection -- protostomes ( Protostomia)

Type - arthropods ( Arthropoda)

Superclass -- part-moustache ( Atelocerata)

Class -- insects ( Insecta)

Detachment - Hymenoptera ( Hymenoptera)

Suborder - stalk-belly ( Apocrita)

pathetic ( Aculeata) (according to another classification)

Superfamily - ants ( Formicoidea)

Family - ants ( Formicidae).

During the research, in July 2015, 150 specimens were collected.

Table 3.1 - Species composition of ants in the studied areas

1 .Sod Ant(Tetramorium caespitum )

Worker. Abdomen short, oval. Legs are not long. The color of the body varies from brownish black to brown and even light brown (yellowish or reddish brown). The mandibles, tarsi and often the back of the abdomen are lighter (yellowish). Body length 2.3-3.5 mm.

Female. The mandibles are wrinkled. Mesoscutum smooth in anterior part, partially wrinkled in posterior part. Body length 6-7 mm.

Male. Brilliant. Brown-black; sometimes the belly is dark brown. Antennae, mandibles and legs, especially tarsi and posterior segment of abdomen are more or less yellowish. Body length 5.8-7 mm.

Pretty common look. Lives in a variety of biotopes, often open, dry and well warmed. It nests in the ground, under stones, or lives in loose earthen heaps riddled with blades of grass. Usually inhabits places with sandy soil, including forest clearings. Often in cultural landscapes - cities, gardens, streets, human habitation.

It builds nests under stones or in the ground, above the surface of which mounds up to 10 cm in diameter are sometimes visible, which often grow with herbaceous vegetation and have outlets near the base. Rarely settles in stumps or rotten wood.

The family usually consists of one female and 11,000 workers.

They feed on dead insects, carrion, seeds, flower nectar, fruit juice.

Active and tenacious by nature. If in a fight an ant of this species manages to grab someone or something, it is impossible to disengage the jaws and it is easier to tear off the head.

The species was found in biotope No. 1, No. 2.

Figure 3.1 - AppearanceTetramorium caespitum

2. red forest ant ( Formica rufa)

Worker. Head, thorax and stalk of abdomen red-brown; occiput, vertex, spot on pronotum not reaching its posterior margin, and abdomen dark brown or blackish brown. Legs reddish or more or less brownish. The eyes are black. The sting is missing. Half of the abdomen is occupied by an acidic poisonous gland, surrounded by a powerful muscular sac. When the muscles contract, the poison is thrown out to a distance of several tens of centimeters. Body length 4-9 mm.

Female. Coloration as in workers. Head, thorax and stalk of abdomen red-brown, abdomen blackish. A spot on the head like a worker's. The wings in the main half are yellowish-brown. Body length 9-11 mm.

Male. Matte body. The coloration is black, with reddish or yellowish legs and genital appendages. Wings like those of the female. Body length 9-11 mm. ant influence biotope territory

The activity of this species begins in April. It is found mainly in coniferous forests, where large heaps of anthills are built, more often in open, well-heated glades and forest edges. It also lives in mixed and deciduous forests older than 40 years, although solitary nests are found in biotopes with dense undergrowth. Not found outside forests.

It builds a loose heap in the form of a cone from twigs, settling near stumps, tree trunks. Shaft around the nest does not form, or forms very rarely. The soil occupies no more than 25% of the above-ground part of the anthill.

Found in biotope #4.

Figure 3.2 - AppearanceFormica rufa

3. meadow ant ( Formica pratensis )

Worker. Head, thorax and stalk of abdomen red-brown; occiput, vertex, distinct spot on pronotum reaching mesonotum, and abdomen dark brown or blackish brown. Legs and antennae brownish. Eye area brown. The sting is missing. Body length 4-9 mm.

Female. The scutum and scutellum are black, the top of the head is dark. Abdomen dull, blackish-brown, except for a small reddish spot at the base and anal end; with abundant adjacent pubescence. The wings in the main half are yellowish-brown. Body length 9-11 mm.

Male. The coloration is black, except for the yellowish genital appendages. Body length 9-11 mm.

It lives in the forest zone in glades, edges and clearings of pine forests; on sandy soils and light loams; small nests are found in clearings, edges and clearings of young mixed forests.

Nests are usually loose, cone-shaped with a flattened flat dome and a wide earthen rampart with a diameter of 0.5 to 3 m. However, nests under the forest canopy also have a high dome. Nest domes are built from large plant remains and cemented with sand. Sometimes the dome seems to be made entirely of sand, among which there are only rare individual sticks. However, the "inner cone" usually consists only of branches. Often at the base of the nest lies an old half-rotten stump. From nests to trees with colonies of aphids, there are clear paths, usually deepened in the ground, and in some places even closed from above. These tracks have been used for many years.

Dead insects and aphids play a significant role in nutrition, with the latter type of food predominating and the symbiosis with aphids in this species is more developed than in all other Formica species. Sometimes live insects are also eaten.

Found in biotope No. 4.

Figure 3.3 - AppearanceFormica pratensis

4. Pale-legged ant (Lasius alienus ).

Worker. Body monochromatic, black, brown or yellowish-brown, slightly shiny or matte. Antennae and legs reddish-brown, yellowish or reddish. Body length 2.5-3.8 mm.

Female. Outwardly, it has signs of a worker. The coloration is dark brown, with yellowish or reddish antennae, mandibles and legs, with a lighter lower surface of the abdomen. Wings are colorless. Body length 6-9 mm.

Male. Body length 3.5-4.5 mm.

Inhabits sandy soils, avoiding wet soils. Often settles on dry wastelands. Occasionally it penetrates into forests (on planes and vzleski). Settles in a human dwelling.

Usually does not build nests in the form of mounds. Often nests under rocks. Very close in structure and behavior to L. niger, but tries to settle away from the latter. Chooses dry open slopes well lit by the sun. Here he arranges underground nests at a shallow depth and lays foraging tunnels, which provides him with protection from the wind, rain and fires that periodically occur in the wastelands.

The main food is soil arthropods, especially after fires.

Found in biotope #3.

Figure 3.4 - AppearanceLasius alienus

5. Ant earthen (garden) yellow ( Lasius alienus)

Worker. The eyes are small. Yellow (small specimens) or yellow-buff, belly and head sometimes brownish on top (large specimens), reddish mandibles. The sting is missing. Body length 2-4 mm.

Female. Coloration is brownish-yellow to yellow-brown or brown with a light brown belly, yellowish legs, cheeks, antennae, lower surface of the belly and sometimes mandibles. Wings with brownish main half and brown veins and marginal spot. Body length 7-9 mm.

Male. The body is more or less shiny. The coloration is dark brown or yellowish-brown, the legs are lighter. Antennal flagellum, tarsi, articulations of legs and genital appendages yellowish. The wings in the main half are brown, but always lighter than those of the female. Body length 3-4.5 mm.

Often found in meadows, common everywhere. Prefers open biotopes. Lives in the ground, especially in wet places - in meadows, swampy forest areas, in swampy hummocks, less often under stones and, as an exception, in a rotten tree.

It builds earthen mounds reinforced with roots and rhizomes of herbaceous plants. These mounds are usually more compact than those of L. niger. It can arrange winter and summer nests (polykalia phenomenon). There are up to 50,000 individuals in the nests. As a rule, ants are nocturnal, not leaving the surface.

Winged individuals are found in July-August.

It feeds almost exclusively on soil arthropods and grows on the roots of aphids of many species.

Found in biotope No. 3.

Figure 3.5 - AppearanceLasius alienus

During the research, the distribution of collected species by biotopes was revealed (Table 3.2).

Table 3.2 - Distribution of ant species by biotopes

Note:"+" - the presence of the species in the biotope, "-" - its absence;

Biotope No. 1 - Zhilibera Park, biotope No. 2 - Park named after the 40th anniversary of the LKSMB (Kolozhsky, biotope No. 3 - square in memory of Afghan soldiers, biotope No. 4 - forest park Pyshki.

Studies have shown that only one species of ants was found in biotope No. 1, respectively, this biotope is the most stingy in terms of the number of inhabited species of all the studied sites. This is due to the fact that it has the greatest impact anthropogenic factor

In the remaining three biotopes, two species were found

To study faunal complexes, the Jaccard index (2.1) was used (Table 3.3).

Table 3.3 - Calculation of the Jaccard coefficients

An analysis of the similarity of the species composition of ants in the study area showed the presence of a small species correspondence between biotopes: Zhiliber's Park and Kolozhsky Park, Kolozhsky Park and the Square of Afghan Wars. In other cases, there is no correspondence.

Figure 3.2 - Dendogram

findings

As a result of the conducted research, we made the following conclusions:

1. During the research in July 2015, 5 species of ants belonging to 3 genera were collected. The sample size was 150 copies;

2. Studies have shown that biotope No. 1 is the smallest in terms of the number of inhabited species from all the studied areas. This is due to the greatest influence of the anthropogenic factor on this biotope. In the remaining three biotopes, two species were found.

3. An analysis of the similarity of the species composition of ants in the study area showed the presence of a small species correspondence between biotopes: Zhiliber's Park and Kolozhsky Park, Kolozhsky Park and the Square of Afghan Wars. There is no correspondence in other biotopes.

Bibliographic list

1. Formica (Formica) pratensis [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://formicidae-g2n.jimdo.com/formicinae/formica-pratensis - Access date: 04/17/2016;

2. Pale-legged ant (Lasius alienus). [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://formicidae-g2n.jimdo.com/formicinae/lasius-alienus//- Access date: 04/17/2016;

3. Species composition. [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://formicidaeg2n.jimdo.com/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9-%D1% 81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2// - Access date: 04/17/2016;

4. Gilyarov, M.S. Animal life./ M.S. Gilyarov, V.D. Sokolov, Yu.G. Polyansky. // - M.: Enlightenment, 1984. - 78-82 p.

5. Zakharov, A. A. Ant, family, colony / K. V. Arnoldi. - M.: Nauka, 1978. - 144 p.

6. Studying the intelligence of an ant..html ?Accessed: 04/17/2016;

7. Studying the ecological state of mixed forests of the Poshatovsky forestry using red wood ants [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://pandia.ru/text/79/020/36068.php/ - Access date: 04/17/2016;

8. Climate of Grodno / editorial board: Savitsky I.A. [and etc.]. - Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1982. - 124-132 p.

9. Yellow earthen (garden) ant (Lasius alienus) [Electronic resource] - Access mode http://formicidae-g2n.jimdo.com/formicinae/lasius-flavus/ - Access date: 04/17/2016;

10. Ants of Belarus. [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://formicidae-g2n.jimdo.com/ - Access date: 04/17/2016;

11. Ants. [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://www.animalsglobe.ru/muravi/ - Access date: 04/17/2016;

12. Ants. [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://www.wildgarden.ru/insect/ants.php - Access date: 04/17/2016;

13. Ants. [Electronic resource] - Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%8C%D0%B8 - Date Access: 04/17/2016;

14. Unusual animals. [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://elite-pets.narod.ru/anim12.htm - Access date: 04/17/2016;

15. Republic of Belarus. Geography. Geographical position [Electronic resource] / President of the Republic of Belarus. Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus. - Minsk, 2001 - 2005. - Access mode: http: //www.president.gov.by/rus/map2/geo/position. Access date: 04/15/2016.

16. Red wood ant (Formica rufa) [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://formicidae-g2n.jimdo.com/formicinae/formica-rufa/ - Access date: 04/17/2016;

17. Fasulati, K.K. Field study of terrestrial invertebrates: textbook for universities / K.K. Fasulati; ed. V.S. Kapyshev. - 2nd ed. - M.: Higher school, 1971. - 424 p.

18. Ecological research. Study of the non-nesting life of ants [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://neobionika.ru/ekolognapravlenie/151.html - Access date: 04/17/2016;

19. Yurkevich, I.D. Vegetation of Belarus, its mapping, protection and use / I.D. Yurkevich, D.S. Hunger, V.S. Aderijo. - Minsk: Science and technology, 1979. - 248 p.

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Species diversity of ants and features of their settlement

Biological classification classifies all ants as family of formicides (Formicidae) and order Hymenoptera, which also includes bees, wasps and bumblebees. Indeed, ants, more precisely, ant queens, are winged in a short breeding season. Then the founder of the new anthill builds the first chamber of the future "palace", gnaws off her own wings, which she will no longer need, and over a long, sometimes twenty-year life, gives birth to a numerous ant tribe, which, in accordance with its castes, will build, work, nurse larvae, get food and defend the territory.

In the ant family, formicide there are about 7000 species. These heat-loving insects are especially numerous and diverse in the tropics, and the cold forest-tundra zone is the natural limit of their settlement.

In warm latitudes - heavenly ant places - exotic, aggressive, dangerous and amazing species have formed:

South American Bullet Ant with an exceptionally painful bite, the sensations from which are compared precisely with bullet wound. The length of these insects reaches three centimeters.

red fire ants. An aggressive Brazilian species that was accidentally introduced to the southern United States displaced a large number of native ants, and then, via merchant ships, spread to Australia and China. The pain from the bite of insects of this species is the same as from a fire burn.

Black bulldog ants live in Australia and Tasmania. When bitten, a strong poison is released, which, in addition to pain, often causes acute, deadly allergic reactions.

Soldier Ants- a nomadic species found in South America and Africa. They spend a significant part of their lives moving in dense columns that destroy all living things in their path, unable to quickly hide. Without a permanent anthill, they form a temporary breeding ground, forming a spherical colony of their own bodies linked to each other.

yellow ants living in Arizona, produce the most powerful poison that can kill any animal weighing up to two kilograms.

Fortunately, in the middle lane, these monsters of the ant world do not survive.

Inhabits 220 species ants in Russia and the CIS countries, which are distributed in full accordance with temperature conditions - the norther the area, the fewer species of ants live there:

Caucasian region - more than 160 species;
Ukraine - 74 species;
Moscow region - 40 species;
Arkhangelsk region - 24 species.

In the middle lane, three types of ants are most often found:

red myrmica with a body of yellow-brown-red color, not more than 6 mm in length. This species feeds on insects, including pests, and also collects sweet honeydew - the sugary secretions of aphids.
red forest ant medium-sized with a dark abdomen and reddish middle segments of the body is the main fighter against insects - pests of the forest. It is included in the international Red List of endangered species.
Black garden ant reaches a length of 1 cm, destroys insects and collects a sweet honeydew of aphids. The black garden "queen" lives a record long time - 28 years.

A photo

Next you will see photos of all types of ants:

In addition to these natural species, it is found almost everywhere brownie, ship or pharaoh ant, first found in Egyptian tombs and, due to its small size and high adaptability, spread over vast territories. The length of its yellow translucent yellow body with a dark abdomen does not exceed 5 mm. This warm-hearted settles exclusively in houses and apartments, multiplies rapidly, spoils the products that it can reach and can be a carrier of infectious diseases. It forms several colonies that ensure the preservation of numbers: if one nest is destroyed, the remaining clusters of insects will quickly restore the ant "livestock".

IMPORTANT: A pharaoh ant invading a person's home is certainly an unpleasant neighbor that should be disposed of as soon as possible.

Other common types of ants, withone side, bring undoubted benefit. Their daily activities to move and process a variety of substances improves soil structure and fertility. Numerous harmful insects become prey of ants.

However, ants are not only protect aphids and worms- suppliers of sweet honeydew, tasty for them - but also bred these pests, settling them on green stems and leaves of plants, including cultivated ones.

Therefore, for gardening farms, the neighborhood with large anthills is undesirable.

Biologically expedient organization of colonies, poisonous chemical "weapons" and high adaptability make ants the champions in terms of numbers among insects.

A variety of ant species develop all latitudes from the forest-tundra to the tropics, destroying pests and ensuring the transfer of nutrients to the soil.

At the same time, the invasion of these thousands of ant communities on agricultural lands and in human dwellings forces us to look for ways to effectively deal with them.

Useful video

In this video, you will learn more about all types and varieties of ants:

The text of the work is placed without images and formulas.
The full version of the work is available in the "Job Files" tab in PDF format

Introduction

Relevance of the topic: Almost every person in his life, one way or another, came across ants. And this is not surprising - ants live everywhere, with the exception of Antarctica. There are 12,000 species of them and, according to some estimates, they make up to a quarter of the biomass of terrestrial animals! What is the secret of these amazing creatures?

The answer is simple - in an advanced social organization. These small insects build anthills, comparable in their internal structure to huge castles or cities, work harmoniously, defend themselves from enemies or start wars themselves, they have a similarity Agriculture and animal husbandry, an advanced communication system, in their world everyone knows their place.

Ants are among those few living creatures that not only adapt themselves to their environment, but also actively rebuild the world around them in relation to their needs, their tasks. They are similar to humans in many ways.

Ants inhabited our planet long before man appeared. They outlived the dinosaurs and most likely will outlive us. There are more than 100 million years of evolution between us. However, despite the long period of study of ants, we still do not know much about them.

Objective: study of the characteristics of the life of ants and their influence on the forest ecosystem.

Tasks:

get acquainted with the life of ants, the peculiarities of their nutrition and communication;

to monitor the extra-nesting activity of ants;

determine the role of ants in the forest ecosystem.

Object of study: the life of ants.

Subject of study: red wood ant - Formica rufa.

Hypothesis: ants have a positive impact on the forest ecosystem.

Practical significance of the work: We not only study the features of the life activity of red wood ants, their important role in nature is clarified, but also the protective activity of anthills is carried out.

Research methods:

Study of literary sources;

Field research methods (method of laying test sites, geobotanical description, soil study, measuring the parameters of ant nests and the length of trails using a tape measure);

Method of long-term observation;

Experiment method;

Analysis, comparison and generalization of results.

Equipment needed for research: 4 pegs, rope, shovel, wooden plank, tape measure, compass, soil thermometer, universal indicators - test strips, correction fluid, Atlas - determinant.

Chapter 1. Theoretical part of the study

1.1. Anthill device

All ants that live in our country live in nests. They build them on the ground. Outside, they can be seen on the heaps of earth. Sometimes ants also settle in rotten wood: stumps, logs.

The anthill is a structure made of twigs, needles of spruce, pine, leaves. It has its own microclimate - the temperature in the anthill is 5 degrees higher than the surrounding air. The ant heap is a structure not only above ground, but also underground. Chambers, galleries, tunnels and corridors pierce the ground under the anthill, now intricately intertwining, now scattering into different sides. The nest has its own food warehouses, trash cans, chambers for the ant queen, and even a nursery for various age groups. All these premises are constantly rebuilt by ants - new chambers are opened, old ones are walled up, new corridors are dug out, and the old ones are dug up and clogged tightly. The nest is busy all the time. The fulfillment by an individual of the tasks of the family is the law of the anthill.

1.2. Ant family

All ants are social insects. They live in families. In the nest of the red forest ant, there are from several tens to one million inhabitants. Ants have three main castes: males, females, and worker individuals, which are asexual females.

There is a division of functions between members of the ant family. Depending on age, size, insects perform different services. Usually, young worker ants are nannies, they take care of the brood and females, mature ants are builders, and older ones are food earners. And those who are completely “aged” are watchmen and observers. They guard the entrances and exits of anthills.

1.3. Features of communication of ants

All ants are oriented in space by terrestrial objects, as well as by the sun. A special system of perception of the environment is created by odorous chemicals - pheromones. They are secreted by the endocrine gland and are perceived by other ants as a smell that plays leading role in the organization of the colonies. When one ant excretes this fluid, other ants receive the message through their sense of smell or taste buds and respond to the message. All signals are generated in accordance with the needs of the colony.

Ants communicate with each other by touching antennae located on their heads. So they convey various information in a language that only they understand. Moreover, the data transmission system of ants sometimes surpasses even human speech communication in efficiency. Ants instantly solve questions that a person would need many hours to solve.

1.4. Ant nutrition

Almost all ants feed on two sources.

The first is insects. Ants hunt or collect already dead insects (flies, dragonflies, beetles, etc.)

The second source is honeydew - the sweet secretion of aphids. The connection between ants and aphids is a prime example of "cooperation" in the animal world. Aphids supply ants with food, and ants protect them from enemies, transfer them to fresh shoots of plants, and sometimes take them to an anthill for the winter. In addition, ants can eat plant sap, nectar, mushrooms, seeds.

All the food that the ants collect is transferred to the nest and distributed among all family members there. For example, honeydew (ant milk) is distributed as follows: first, honeydew is collected in the ant's goiter. Then, having come to the nest, the ant stands in a special position, opens its jaws and a drop of liquid comes out of its mouth. One or more ants come up to him, who drink this droplet and soon all the food is pumped over. If a lot of food enters the nest, it is accumulated in the stomachs of a certain group - keepers. These are young and large ants. Thus, all food remains in the family.

1.5. The value of ants in nature

Ants perform many ecological functions. They have a positive effect on soil-forming processes: they mix the soil, improve its chemical and mechanical composition. Laying passages, ants raise soil particles from the lower layers to the upper ones. This improves air access to the roots. Beneficial mixing of the soil occurs constantly, as the ants continuously rebuild their nests. In nests and around them, a large amount of excrement accumulates, fertilizing the soil. It has been established that the trees, the roots of which fall into the zone of influence of the anthill nest, grow rapidly, using the nutrients accumulated under the anthill. Near anthills, a living ground cover is much better developed: the mass of grass, for example, around an anthill is 5-8 times higher. Vegetation develops here, demanding on soil fertility.

Ants that settle in wood and include old stumps in their nests participate in the destruction of dead wood, thereby accelerating the process of its decomposition. In addition, insects collect woody and grassy particles, twigs, needles, and scales into the anthill, where they decompose faster than on the soil surface.

The anthill itself is a hostel not only for ants, but also for hundreds of different small animals - spiders, ticks, centipedes, beetles, crickets and caterpillars. They are attracted here by the rapid decomposition of substances, high friability of the soil, stable temperature, suitable humidity.

The importance of ants in nature is also increasing due to the fact that they are one of the main links in the trophic chains of ecosystems. They serve as food for badgers, foxes, bears, songbirds. Without ants, the normal development of black grouse and hazel grouse is impossible.

It is impossible not to note one feature of ants. They are able to breed aphids that produce a large amount of excrement. The ant family uses them to feed adults, protects aphids from enemies. But the harm caused by ants is insignificant compared to the benefits they bring.

Ants are active predators. They quickly switch to new plentiful food sources and thus can suppress pest outbreaks. The inhabitants of an average anthill are capable of destroying up to twenty thousand pests per day. In one season of ant activity, the forest is cleared of five million pests.

Chapter 2. Practical part

The research was carried out in the vicinity of the village of Suda in the Cherepovets region (40 km from Cherepovets). The time of the research: June - August 2015.

Research 1. Bookmark trial site, its description

Equipment: 4 pegs, rope, compass, tape measure.

To study the forest community, I chose a forest area located southeast of the village. (Appendix 1, fig. 1.)

A trial site 30x30m 2 in size was laid here:

1. installed peg No. 1;

2. using the compass from peg No. 1, I measured the distance of 30 m to the north and put peg No. 2;

3. I measured a distance of 30 m from peg No. 2 along the compass to the east and set peg No. 3;

5. pulled a rope between the pegs.

Description of the trial site:

The relief of the site is flat, the climate is temperate continental with moderately warm summers and moderately cold winters. The soil is sod-podzolic, sandy loam. Groundwater occurs at medium depth. The species composition of the plant world is diverse. In section I, the tier belongs mainly to conifers, as well as deciduous trees, II tier is represented by shrubs and small trees, III tier - herbs.

In the study area, 7 anthills were found: 4 large, 2 medium and 1 small. (Appendix 1, table 1)

Anthills built in a lighted place have a spherical shape, and in the shade they are highly conical. The composition of the domes of the studied anthills is mainly represented by small twigs, stems and roots of herbs, grains of sand, needles, pieces of wood, and dry leaves. (Appendix 1, Fig.2-8)

The height of the anthills ranges from 0.35 m to 1.20 m, and the area of the bases of the domes is from 0.38 m 2 to 2.83 m 2. The total number of trails is 24. (Appendix 1, table 2)

Study 2. Study of non-nesting life of ants

Equipment: universal indicators - test - strips, correction fluid, tape measure, wooden board, Atlas - determinant.

To conduct experiments on the extra-nesting activity of ants, I chose the largest anthill No. 3.

Slightly moving the anthill with a branch, I saw that the disturbed ants took a defensive posture. Holding her palm over the anthill, she felt a burning sensation and the smell of formic acid, and holding a litmus test, she found that it turned red. (Appendix 2, Fig. 1.2)

Conclusion: Ants protect themselves and their homes with formic acid. Formic acid is a poison that ants use to defend themselves and kill their prey.

using pheromones and tendrils

Replanting ants from another anthill.

I planted ants on the path next to the anthill and on the anthill (5 individuals in each case). Alien identification occurred only through direct contact of individuals (mutual palpation with antennae). An ant that directly came into contact with a foreign individual was supported by 2-3 ants located in the immediate vicinity of the conflict zone. The alien individual did not always attack, in most cases, she was allowed to escape. Alien ants planted on the path were attacked and destroyed in 8 cases out of 10.

At 20 cm from the dome of the anthill outside the path, the movement of ants is outwardly more chaotic, which to some extent prevents direct contacts of individuals. Here, 10% of the aliens were identified and destroyed. When replanting individuals from another family on the dome of the anthill, the percentage of those destroyed was 50%. (Appendix 2, Fig. 3.4)

Mustache communication.

Taking carefully one of the worker ants and dipping its belly in the correction fluid (stroke), sent it back to the surface of the anthill. One of his relatives noticed the "stranger" and fussed - he ran to inform everyone about the possible danger, transmitting information with the help of antennae, crossing his antennae with the antennae of a relative: the information was transmitted and several ants ran to the "imaginary enemy". Running up to him, the stranger made several movements with his antennae and was recognized by his relatives. (Appendix 2, Figure 5-7)

Conclusion: The main way ants communicate with each other is through special chemicals - pheromones, but they also communicate using peculiar antennae - antennae.

Experiment No. 3. Hunting instincts moving ants

in space

I put prey (mosquitoes and caterpillars) at a certain distance from the path and from the anthill. (Appendix 2, Fig. 8.9) Prey placed directly on the path or on the anthill was found quickly and immediately by several individuals, and prey placed off the path or a little further from the anthill was found only after a few minutes by 2-3 working ants.

Conclusion: the closer the prey is from the trail or anthill, the faster and more individuals find it. Differences in the timing of detection along the trail are explained by different distances.

Putting the board on the trail in different positions, I tested the reaction of the ants. It was expected that the new substrate, which does not have the smell of an ant trail, will cause an exploratory reaction, and some time will be spent on the restoration of the trail. However, this did not happen. The board, located both along and across the path, the ants passed without delay. The board, placed on its edge, after a short study, the ants bypassed and returned to the path. (Appendix 2, Fig. 10,11)

Conclusion: when using a familiar path, insects use not only the sense of smell, but also the ability to navigate. Woody objects that appear on the trails are not a big surprise (the smell of wood is familiar to them). Ants avoid obstacles with high vertical walls, demonstrating the ability to navigate.

Experiment No. 5. Studying ant trails

When observing the anthill, I studied the paths that branch off from it. 5 trails were found. Using a tape measure, I measured their length. The longest trail is 16.3m, the shortest is 7.9m. I noticed that the end of the trail could be on a tree, a stump, or the ground. The main purpose of the trails is. Recorded the observation data in a table. (Appendix 2, table 2)

Conclusion: most of the paths along which the movement of ant streams is carried out are forage, since ants transport food along them. The maximum traffic on the trails is observed in the daytime. The trails are laid mainly to the trunks of trees with traces of damage by various pests. Consequently, ants preserve the growth of tree crowns in the foci of pests and increase the productivity of the forest.

To study the quantitative accounting of exterminated insects, trail No. 5 was chosen.

On July 25, 2015, I collected ant prey on the trail for 15 minutes three times a day (morning, noon and evening). In the morning, the prey of ants was 23 insects, of which 3 beneficial, 17 harmful and 3 insects could not be identified. During the day, the number of insects increased to 45, of which 32 were harmful, 7 were beneficial. In the evening, ant prey amounted to 28 insects, of which 4 were beneficial, 23 were harmful, and 1 were undetermined. The data was entered into a table. (Appendix 2, table 2)

Conclusion: the peak of the extermination of insects occurs at noon. Most insects exterminated by ants are harmful. Consequently, ants reduce the number of pests.

Study 3. Studying the impact of nest-building activities of ants on the forest ecosystem

Equipment: soil thermometer, shovel, universal indicators - test strips.

To study the soil-forming activity of ants, I compared the soil near and far from the anthill according to the following indicators - mechanical composition, humidity, temperature, acidity. The research data was entered into a table. (Appendix 3, table 1)

According to the table, it can be seen that the soil of the anthill is more structural, of better mechanical composition, more loose, moist, and, consequently, more fertile. The soil temperature near the nest is higher than far away. This is primarily due to the fact that inside the anthill itself the temperature is higher than outside, respectively, and the soil also warms up.

Conclusion: in natural biocenoses, the nest-building activity of ants is of great soil-forming importance.

Conclusion

As a result of the study, I studied the features of the life of ants and their impact on the forest ecosystem and came to the following conclusions:

All ants are social insects. They live in families in nests. Between members of the ant family there is a division of functions depending on age and size. Ants feed on insects, aphids, plant sap, seeds, fungi, and nectar. Insects communicate with the help of special chemicals - pheromones.

Ants protect themselves and their homes with formic acid. Identification of strangers in an anthill occurs with the help of palpation with antennae-antennae. When moving along the paths, insects use not only the sense of smell, but also the ability to navigate. The main part of the ant trails is forage and ends on damaged tree trunks. Most insects exterminated by ants are harmful.

Red forest ants are an integral part of the ecosystem

forests. They have a positive effect on soil-forming processes, participate in the destruction of dead wood, increase forest productivity, being the basis of a biological forest protection complex against insect pests.

Thus, ants have a significant positive impact on the forest ecosystem. My hypothesis was confirmed.

References and Internet sources

1. Baksht F.B. Magnetic anthills // Nature. No. 7, 1990. -p.60-63

2. Grebennikov V.S. Secrets of the world of insects. - Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk book publishing house, 1990 - 272p.

3. Dlussky G. M. Ants of the genus Formica. Moscow: Nauka, 1967 - 236c.

4. Evtushenko S.A. Almost like people. [Electronic resource], - http://www.oracle-today.ru - article on the Internet.

5. The life of ants in an anthill. [Electronic resource], - http://novosteika.ru/stati/nauka/muravei.php - article on the Internet.

6.Zakharov A.A. Ant, family, colony. - M .: Publishing house "Nauka", 1978 - 142c.

7. Club of ants lovers. [Electronic resource], - http:// www.antclub.org/morphology/anatomy

8. Khalifman I. A. Ants. M .: Young Guard, 1967 - 304s

Appendix 1

Trial site bookmark, its description

Fig 1. Map of the location of the study area

Table 1. General site survey data

Photos of anthills found in the study area

Fig.2. Anthill No. 1 Fig.3. Anthill #2

Fig.4. Anthill No. 3 Fig.5. Anthill number 4

Fig.6. Anthill No. 5 Fig.7. Anthill number 6

Fig.8. Anthill number 7

Table 2. General data on discovered anthills

№ anthill	Size of anthills			The number of trails extending from the anthill	The state of the anthill
№ anthill	Base diameter, m	Height, m	Dome base area, m 2	The number of trails extending from the anthill	The state of the anthill
					not violated
					half scattered
					not violated
					not violated
					not violated
					not violated
					not violated

Appendix 2

Study of non-nesting life of ants

Experiment No. 1. Protective reaction of ants

Fig.1. Ants' defensive reaction

Fig.2. Formic acid detections

Experiment #2

using pheromones and tendrils

Fig.3. Replanting alien ants in Fig.4. Replanting ants on

the path next to the anthill anthill

Fig.5. Ant labeled Fig.6. tagged ant

corrective fluid planted on an anthill

Fig.7. Tagged detection

Experiment No. 3. The hunting instinct and movement of ants

in space

Fig.8. Production room Fig.9. Ant detection

on an anthill of prey

Experiment #4 Obstacle Detection

Fig.10. Board placed on edge Fig.11. Board placed

across the ant trail

Experiment #5

Table 1. Characteristics of ant trails extending from anthill No. 3

№ trails	Purpose of the trail	Trail length, m	Trail end point
	Transfer of feed and building material		on the tree
	Transfer of feed and building material
	Transfer of feed and building material
	Transfer of feed and building material		on the tree
	Transfer of feed and building material		on the tree

Experiment No. 6. Quantitative accounting of insects exterminated by ants

Table 2. Accounting for insects exterminated by ants

№ mura reed	№ trails	Observation time		Collection duration	The number of insects selected from ants
		Month, number	Hours, minutes		Useful	not defined

Annex 3

Study of the influence of nest-building activity of ants on the forest ecosystem

Table 1. Characteristics of the soil taken away and from the anthill

signs	Indicators near the anthill	Indicators away from the anthill
Structure	structural	less structural
Mechanical composition	light loam (the soil rolls into a sausage with a thin, sharp tip, easily breaks when bent)	medium loam (the soil rolls into a sausage with a thin, sharp tip, breaks when bent)
Degree of trampling down	slightly trampled down (the shovel entered the soil to a depth of 5 cm with a strong blow)	medium trampled down (the shovel with a strong impact entered the soil to a depth of 3.5 cm)
Humidity	moisturized (the soil noticeably cools the hand)	less hydrated (the soil slightly cools the hand)
Temperature
Acidity	(colour changed from yellow to crimson)	subacid (colour changed from yellow to pink)

Determining the characteristics of the soil far away and near the anthill

Fig.1. Taking samples near the anthill

Fig.2. Taking samples away from the anthill

Determination of soil temperature near and far from the anthill

Fig.3. Temperature determination Fig.4. Temperature detection

soil near the anthill soil away from the anthill

According to scientific data, ants lived as early as 140 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period. They differed from modern insects in appearance and reached 7 cm in length. Now ants live on almost all continents and islands, except for Greenland, Iceland and Antarctica. They have changed a lot over the years of their existence. What kinds of ants exist now? How is their life organized?

Classification

Ants belong to the family of formicides and to the order Hymenoptera. Their relatives are bees, wasps and bumblebees.

The formicide family includes about 7000 species. Most species live in the tropics. However, they can be found in all belts, up to the cold tundra.

Inhabitants of warm countries

Ants differ depending on their habitat. Those who live in the tropics are characterized by aggressive behavior and danger to others:

Bullet ant. The bites of this species are extremely painful. They say that they can be compared with a bullet wound. They are larger than other individuals. The length of such an ant reaches 3 cm.
. These evil insects live in Brazil. They got there quite by accident from Africa. Just by chance, on merchant ships, they ended up in Australia and China. Their bite is like a severe burn.
Bulldog Ants. Their habitat is Australia and Tasmania. During a bite, poison enters the victim's body, which can lead to severe allergies.
Soldiers. Ants of this species roam the territory South America and Africa. They move in columns, destroying everything in their path that did not have time to hide. An interesting feature of this species is that they do not have a permanent home. Their only shelter is built from their own bodies, and then only for reproduction.
Yellow ants are found predominantly in Arizona. They are the most poisonous. A small amount of poison can kill an animal weighing about 2 kg.

None of these species is able to live in the middle lane.

Our "compatriots"

Approximately 220 species of ants live on the territory of Russia and the CIS countries. In the northern areas there are fewer of them, in the south, on the contrary, there are more. For example, about 160 species can be found in the Caucasus, but only 24 in the Arkhangelsk region.

What kinds of ants are found in the middle lane?

Myrmika is red. The structure of an ant of this species is different from others. The main difference is the size. Adults have a body 6 mm long. They are colored yellow and red. The main food of such ants is other insects. As a "dessert" they use the secretions of aphids, which have a sweetish aftertaste.
Red ant. Has a medium size. The abdomen is usually dark, and its middle parts are colored red. These ants provide invaluable assistance in the fight against insect pests. This species is on the verge of extinction.
black. It has a relatively small size (about 1 cm). Eats insects and aphids. The queen of this species lives a very long time. The record is 28 years.

In addition to these species, there are several others. This is a brownie, ship or pharaoh ant. Why pharaohs? It was first found in the tombs of Egyptian rulers. The small size of the insect helped him to settle over fairly vast territories.

The abdomen reaches a length of 5 mm. They live mainly in human dwellings. Individuals of this species reproduce very quickly. This ant is considered a pest. It can ruin food and even bring some infections into the house. They usually live in several colonies. They support each other. If one dies, the other quickly restores its numbers.

The basis of the division into castes

Ants are divided into species and according to their functions. There are males, females and workers. They are very different in appearance. Males and females have wings, but hard workers do not. True, in the uterus, after fertilization, the wings fall off.

Another difference lies in the birth process of each species. The queen and worker ants emerge from fertilized eggs, and males from unfertilized ones.

Uterus

Members of this caste produce offspring. There can be several of them in one anthill. Compared to others, they are larger.

Queens mate once in a lifetime. This process is called mating flight. Some species have one partner, while others have dozens. As a result of the relationship, the uterus is left with a supply of sperm that will last her a lifetime.

Once fertilization has taken place, the uterus moves into new family or remains to live in the old one. In the first case, she will have to find a suitable place for a new home and equip a room for herself.

Some species allow the fertilized female to sit in the anthill and prepare for the appearance of offspring, while others send her to work on an equal basis with everyone else.

Interestingly, queens are not always treated with respect. If there are several of them in the anthill, one can be presented to the neighbors. Or kill if it does not produce the required number of offspring.

males

These individuals have only maternal chromosomes. They have wings. Young males often die as a result of a fierce fight for "ladies". Their main function is fertilization. At the end of the process, they life path ends.

Hard workers

Worker ants live up to their name. They are responsible for order in the entire anthill. Depending on the structure, they perform different functions:

Soldiers. They have a large head and a very strong jaw. In peacetime, they work the same way as others.
Babysitters. Usually these are young individuals. They take care of the larvae. They also control the process of their feeding.
Foragers. Looking for food, paving the way to it.

Wintering

How do these insects hibernate? Winter preparation begins in early spring. This is serious and responsible work. All forces and resources go to it.

Different types of these insects hibernate at different times. For example, wintering in a polar species lasts about 9 months. For the remaining months of the year, they need to have time to grow and feed offspring. Those who live in the southern regions winter for only a couple of months.

The pharaoh ant does not hibernate at all. The main habitat of this species is the tropics. There the weather practically does not change throughout the year. That is why in the middle lane these insects can only live in a person's house.

Ants overwinter in the same anthills in which they spend the rest of their time. They descend into rooms located deeper than others. It maintains a more comfortable temperature for living. The entrance for the winter is tightly closed with dry leaves and earth. If the temperature outside rises, the ants may go outside to find food.

Some types of ants hibernate. During the winter, their organs practically do not function. Other species are active all the time. They eat and move little, but continue to take care of the larvae.

In some species, only adult ants go for wintering. For them, preparing for winter is a responsible matter. It consists in collecting seeds, dry plants and fruits. Representatives of the worker castes of these species during wintering try to transform the anthill, making repairs in it. They also make rooms more spacious and maintain the right temperature.

Ants are highly organized insects, even humans have a lot to learn from them. They take care of each other and their offspring. Ants hibernate in their anthill. Preparing for winter is a responsible occupation. At this time, it is necessary not only to collect food supplies, but also to equip the places of residence of the larvae and the uterus. Each ant does its job, but if necessary, it can help its fellows.

The animal world is diverse. More than 9.5 thousand species of animals live on the territory of the district. The animal world was formed in close relationship with the animal world of the Vladimir region and Central Russia. But not big square districts, insignificant forest cover, a high proportion of anthropogenic landscapes and floodplain meadows give the region its originality. By age, the animal world of the region, and the region, is young (post-glacial). According to the peculiarities of formation, it is mixed, formed by Siberian (taiga), Western European (animals of broad-leaved forests) and southern (steppe) species. However, due to the reduction of forests, the process of extinction of many taiga species has begun: animals are being replaced by humans, they go to other places or die. Therefore, the modern animal world is not as diverse and numerous as in the past. In the species composition, it is represented by all major groups of animals. The most numerous are invertebrates, there are more than 9.2 thousand species. The predominant arthropods in the animal kingdom are well represented, which combine crustaceans, arachnids and insects. Since ancient times, the life of industrious ants has been a subject of constant observation and keen interest for people.

An important role in the conservation of animals is played by the created reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, protected areas where animals are preserved, protected or acclimatized, re-acclimatized. On the territory of the Vladimir region, there are various reserves where ants are guard animals. But there are no such places in the Murom region. In addition, the species composition of ants in the Murom region is unknown, since no myrmecological studies have been carried out in this area. This work is the only source of information about the species diversity of ants in the Murom region.

The difficulty of classifying ants is associated with two phenomena - the presence of twin species and hybrids. Myrmecologists (zoologists specializing in the study of ants) know that there are quite a lot of the first, that is, species that are practically indistinguishable in appearance, among ants. As a result, a species described by anatomical (morphological) features of a small number of individuals often has to be divided into two or more independent ones, reproductively isolated from each other. They can be distinguished from each other on the basis of a statistical analysis of measurements of very large numbers (large samples) of individuals, according to chromosomal (genetic) or biochemical (enzymatic) features. Conversely, two closely related species of ants, which are easily distinguishable by external features, often interbreed in places where they live together and produce hybrid forms. If these hybrids are fertile, then we are not talking about independent species, but only about different races of the same one (by definition, offspring from crossing different species are infertile.)

2. The history of the development of ants.

Ants appeared on our planet 200 million years ago (in the upper Mesozoic). Their distant relatives witnessed the rise of the dinosaurs. The ancestors of modern ants were underground predators, only much later they mastered the surface of the earth and climbed trees. Over time, some forms of ants died out, others appeared, and now scientists have about eight thousand different species. Ants are close relatives of wasps, and some researchers even consider them to be a kind of highly specialized wasp. Both winged ants (males and queens) and wingless wasps (German females) are known. However, in general, ants outwardly differ from wasps by the presence in front of the abdomen of a clearly visible stalk of one or two nodularly dilated segments, where there is often a protrusion sticking up. Another them distinguishing feature- a paired metapleural gland, located immediately in front of the stalk in the posterior corners of the mesosome (part of the body between the head and abdomen, which in most insects is called the chest) and is often noticeable there by swellings - "bulls".

Although the anatomical and behavioral similarity of ants to wasps has long led to the latter being considered their ancestors, this view was scientifically confirmed only in 1967, when two fossil specimens were found in amber from New Jersey, corresponding, so to speak, to the wasp ”, i.e., a transitional form between the two groups. She was named Sphecomyrma freyi. This species is dated to the end of the Cretaceous period (about 80 million years ago) and almost ideally fits the role of a link connecting ants with solitary wasps of the superfamily Vespoidea. In its anatomy, ant and wasp characters are mosaically combined, but taxonomically, the species belongs to ants, since it has metapleural glands.

Since then, many other fossil specimens have been discovered, placed in the genera Sphecomyrma and Cretomyrma, which are combined into the subfamily Sphecomyrminae. Judging by these finds, in the Middle - Late Cretaceous, several species of primitive ants were widespread in Laurasia, a supercontinent that later split into Eurasia and North America. At least 65 million years ago, they began to diverge in evolution, adapting to different habitats (ecological niches). Simultaneously, there was a divergence of angiosperms, or flowering plants, which became the dominants of communities, and, most likely, their symbiotic relationship with ants began to take shape at the same time.

In nature, ants cannot be confused with other insects: wingless, very active, always looking for something, fussing. Ants are social insects that live on the ground and trees all over the world, except for Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland and some islands far from the continents. Thanks to this cosmopolitan distribution, abundance and their well-marked colonies, ants are known everywhere.

Ants are the most evolutionarily advanced family of insects in terms of behavior, ecology and physiology. Their colonies are complex social formations with a division of labor and communication systems that allow individuals to coordinate their actions in performing tasks that are beyond the power of one individual. In addition, many ant species maintain highly developed symbiotic relationships with other insects and plants.

The advantages given to ants by cooperation have led to the fact that today it is the dominant group of arthropods in terms of numbers. So, on 1 acre (0.4 ha) of the savannah in Côte d'Ivoire (Africa), 8 million ants live, forming approximately 3,000 colonies. Together with termites (another large group of social insects), ants make up a third of the total biomass of terrestrial animals in tropical forest the Amazon basin. In other words, with an average population density of 3.25 million ants and 0.4 million termites per acre, they collectively weigh only half as much as all the other terrestrial animals in this rainforest. In temperate regions, there are fewer of them, but the numbers are still impressive. On an area of 8 sq. km in Florida, 76 species of ants from 30 genera were found, and on an area of 5.5 sq. km in Michigan - 87 of their species from 23 genera.

They live in families. There are up to one million inhabitants in the nest. Growing, such a family unites several anthills of its kind, between which the inhabitants are exchanged along special paths.

Ants' paths never cross. There are such ant roads that have not changed their configuration for fifteen years, although they were up to one hundred and thirty meters long.

You rarely see a single ant, even far from its nest, usually there are always a lot of them. These are worker ants. Their number in one nest is measured in thousands and tens of thousands, and in some up to a million individuals. In addition to them, there is one or more queens in the family. They are also wingless and never leave the nest. Once a year, winged young males and females appear in the family. Their wings are weak and they are waiting for a warm, windless day to take off on a mating flight. Such a flight occurs simultaneously, at the same hours, for all ants of the same species living in this area. This ensures cross fertilization.

Male ants die after swarming. Fertilized females (queens), having fallen to the ground, shed their wings that have become unnecessary and rush to hide, find a secluded place where you can start a new family.

Ants have three main castes: males, females, and worker individuals, which are asexual females, which, it is true, can lay eggs, but none of them develop. Female ants live up to two years (sometimes 10-20), although the rest of the anthill population is updated in almost a year.

The ant community consists mainly of females. A few males, with rare exceptions, do not take part in the life of the colony. They remain in the nest until the mating season, and after it they are homeless and unable to take care of themselves. In principle, their only function is mating, and, having completed this, they quickly die. With few exceptions, males develop from unfertilized eggs, that is, they are genetically haploid - they have only one set of chromosomes that they inherit from the mother's egg.

Non-breeding workers, like breeding queens, are female in genotype, but their reproductive system is usually underdeveloped. Both of them develop from fertilized eggs, that is, they are diploid - they have two sets of chromosomes obtained from a sperm and an egg. This seemingly universal system is complicated by the presence of thelytoky, i.e., the development of females from unfertilized eggs, for example, in Pristomyrmex pungens, the presence of diploid males, in particular in S. invicta and Formica exsecta, and the laying of viable eggs in some species by working individuals.

Although all fertilized eggs are genetically capable of developing into queens, in most species most of them produce workers. The physiological mechanisms that determine whether the egg will be fertilized and the representative of which caste will be obtained if it is fertilized have not been fully elucidated. It is only clear that, unlike honey bees, this is determined by workers who do not feed the larvae. At the same time, the development of the queen depends on the characteristics of nutrition and temperature regime. It is also known that in the genera Solenopsis, Monomorium and Myrmica, a certain threshold proportion of virgin females in the nest suppresses their further occurrence.

Worker ants live for about a year, unlike queen ants, which can live up to 18 years. The worker caste is usually divided into three sub-castes of varying size - small, medium and large individuals. In most species, the transition between them is gradual, and this division is somewhat arbitrary, but in some cases there are two distinct groups - small and large workers. The former in a number of species mainly or completely perform protective functions and are called soldiers. In granivorous forms, they are often also engaged in grinding, i.e., cleaning seeds from shells and grinding their nutritious part, the endosperm. Small and medium workers perform various tasks that change with age. First, they work as nannies, feeding and cleaning the brood, then they become builders, expanding and repairing the nest, and the oldest (and most often dying) perform the dangerous role of foragers, that is, they collect and bring food to the anthill. The amount of labor force available for each specific task is optimized - it is set and maintained within the most efficient limits by regulating the period of life during which individuals perform a particular function.

3. Brood.

The development cycle of ants, like that of all Hymenoptera, includes a complete transformation (holometabolism). The larva hatches from the egg - the only growing stage of the insect. Its cuticle, i.e., the outer cover, stretches only within certain limits, therefore, during growth, it changes several times - molts occur. Accordingly, several age stages of the larva are distinguished: the first - from hatching to the first molt, the second - to the second molt, etc. Four larval stages are typical for ants, which end with pupation, although some species have three or five.

Before turning into a pupa, the larva stops feeding, regurgitates meconium (the contents of its intestines) and, in most ants, surrounds itself with a silk cocoon (it is these cocoons that are popularly called ant eggs). Inside the pupa, a radical restructuring of the body of the insect occurs - a legless sac-like larva turns into a morphologically complex adult (imago). All previous stages of the life cycle of ants are united under the name "brood". The nests of anthills are very diverse: moss and earthen lumps, mounds of earthen lumps and plant remains. On average, 4-5 million needles and twigs are used to build one nest. There are summer and winter dwellings (pokali phenomenon). Winter nests are usually deeper than summer nests and are located in secluded places. With the onset of autumn, hundreds of ants migrate to winter nests, and only a few remain in summer ones located in open places.

1. 1. 5. Nutrition

The basis of the nutrition of almost all ants is made up of two components: protein and carbohydrate.

Various invertebrates, mainly insects, are used as a source of protein food. Ants hunt them or collect corpses.

main source carbohydrate food serves for ants pad - sweet secretion of aphids and other proboscis insects (worms, scale insects, some cicadas).

In addition to honeydew and insects, ants can feed on plant sap, nectar, mushrooms, and seeds.

All the food that the ants collect is brought to the nest and there it is distributed among all family members. According to long-term observations of the West German researcher G. Wellenstein, the nutrition of red forest ants (by weight):

Pad - 62%

Insects and other invertebrates - 33%

Plant juice - 4.5%

Mushrooms and carrion - 0.3%

Seeds - 0.2%

1. 1. 6. Life expectancy

Worker ants live for about a year, unlike queen ants, which can live up to 18 years. Under laboratory conditions, individual working individuals can live up to 3-4 years. There is a case when an ant lived for seven years. But under natural conditions, during the year, the population of the anthill is almost completely renewed, so that on average a worker ant lives for about a year. Females live much longer - up to 20 years. Families of red wood ants are known that remained alive.

7. Nest.

Ants are social insects of great importance in the life of the forest. They arrange characteristic nests with a dome of plant remains - anthills. Many ants have nests in the soil without mounds on top, or nest in wood or under stones. Nests of ants of the same species, having a common origin and a single territory, form complexes. Anthill complexes are a compactly located group of nests not separated by barriers indeterminate for ants (rivers, streams, busy asphalt roads, treeless gaps more than 30 m wide). The anthills included in the complex are not necessarily connected by roads, but adjoin by territories. Usually, a group of anthills can be considered as a complex if their number is 7-8 per 1 ha, if such a group contains nests of different sizes, including nests with a dome diameter of more than 1.2 m and a height of more than 0.7 m. A group of locally located large nests always form one complex. The distance between nests in the complex can be from 10 to 30 m. The boundaries of the complexes may not coincide with the boundaries of the unit or quarter. There may be several complexes in one quarter, there may be several complexes if there is a spatial gap of more than 100 m between nest groups. In some cases, all anthills of one quarter or even a small forest area represent a single complex, which can be seen when plotting nests on a diagram. Separately located anthills, no matter what size they are, cannot be considered as complexes. Ants build nests in places chosen, at least in part, based on their thermal regime. For example, in cool weather, a rock warmed by the sun can attract them. In winter, Solenopsis species concentrate their nests on the southern slopes of embankments of roads running in the latitudinal direction and erect high mounds; in the summer they move to north side mounds, and mounds are built low or they are not erected at all.

Ants can partially optimize the temperature conditions of their existence by moving up and down inside the nest or even moving to a satellite nest. Workers of a number of desert species, after drinking water, regurgitate it in the anthill to maintain the necessary humidity.

Ant nest complexes are an important component of forest ecosystems. The well-being of the forest largely depends on the degree of maturity of the complexes. Therefore, the organization of monitoring of ant nest complexes by the efforts of school forestries and local history associations of schoolchildren and students is extremely interesting and relevant.

Within different climatic zones, ants choose the most optimal ecological conditions (biotope, temperature, microclimate, etc.). The study of ecological confinement in each specific area of the range, the nature of the relationship of different ant species in one territory is undertaken not only with the aim of creating the most accurate picture of the biology of the species. Knowledge of the nature of the distribution of ant species. Analysis of the structure of their settlement complexes is of great importance. practical value, because it is the basis for choosing the right ways in the artificial resettlement of these beneficial insects.

12 1. 2. Brief ecological characteristics of ants found in the study area.

Brown forest ant (Formica fursa L.)

Massive, typically forest species found in deciduous and mixed forests with dense undergrowth where other Serviformica do not live. Its nests can be found in bumps in damp meadows, in the ground, under stones, in rotten wood, under the bark of stumps. Actively destroys wood. It feeds on aphids (living both on trees and grasses), dead insects, sometimes attacks live arthropods.

Red forest ant (Formica rufa L.)

Working individuals reach a length of 4 - 9 mm. It lives in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests over 40 years old, although single nests are found in biotopes with dense undergrowth (Dlussky, 1967). This species is confined to coniferous plantations, but they are absent in linden forests and very few in birch forests. It occurs in open, well-warmed glades and forest edges. It builds nests from smaller plant remains, the nests of the red wood ant are usually 0.5 - 0.7 m, but sometimes reach a height of 1.5 m, the nests of this species look more neat and have the shape of a shaft.

Red borer ant (Tetramorium caespitum)

As the name shows, this red-breasted, rather large ant (working individuals are 6–14 mm long, and females are 15–18 mm long. It occurs in pine forests, nests, gnawing out extensive nesting passages, in diseased and dead wood of dying trees. In a multi-species community, this an ant species is one of the dominant species, and sugary aphid excrement is one of the sources.

Yellow ground ant (Lasius flavus)

It occurs mainly in meadows, sometimes on the outskirts of forest plantations.

One of the most amazing features of these ants is that they lead a completely underground lifestyle. In the course of evolution, the chitin of these ants has almost lost its pigmentation, becoming yellow or light orange. Only females and males retained the characteristic brown coloration of ants. The dimensions are similar to the two previous types.

These ants never come to the surface and search for food directly underground, preying on various arthropods living in the soil. Like black lasius, flavi have a close relationship with aphids, but they do not breed their colonies on nearby plants, they settle directly in the anthill on the roots of plants. It turns out a very interesting phenomenon: an underground aphid colony right inside the anthill! A fairly common sight. Family sizes reach 50,000 individuals.

Red-cheeked miner ant (Serviformica rifibarbis)

Lesser or bare-backed wood ant (Formica polyctena) Common in the same area as F. rufa, but prefers biotopes with sparse undergrowth. The nests of F. polyctena are built from smaller plant debris and therefore look neater than those of F. rufa. The soil occupies no more than 25% of the above-ground part of the anthill. With nests of the same size, in F. polyctena, the colony size and food area are 2–7 times larger than in F. rufa. F. polyctena is a more aggressive entomophage than F. rufa. The choice of food in this species is curious. While other ant species do not touch larvae with poisonous hemolymph, F. polyctena actively attacks them and bites until it bites through the skin. After that, however, the prey is thrown out and diligently cleans the jaws on the sand. He does not touch densely hairy caterpillars, but attacks the weakly hairy caterpillars in a group. In his families, only 6–20% of ants are foragers.

2. Materials and research methods.

2. 1. Physical and geographical characteristics of the study area.

2. 1. 1 Physical and geographical characteristics of the Kovarditsky forest.

The Kovarditsky forest is located on the territory of CJSC PZ "Niva", with total area 159 hectares, which is part of the state institution "Murom rural forestry", state institution "Vladimir rural forest management" and is located in its western part on the territory of the Murom administrative district of the Vladimir region. The forest fund of an agricultural enterprise consists of separate forest areas of various sizes and configurations, most of which are directly adjacent to the boundaries of the state forest fund, forming large forest areas.

The forest is located on the Kovrovsko-Kosimovsky plateau, which is an erosion-morainic dissected elevated plain. The relief within the territory of the forest is hilly and ridged. Hills and ridges alternate with a closed depression.

The climate of the forest area is temperate continental in terms of humidity and temperature conditions with well-defined seasons. The duration of the growing season is 160-180 days. The average annual air temperature is +3.7. Late spring frosts are possible until the first days of June and early autumn frosts from the beginning of September. The maximum air temperature is +35.2, the minimum is -40.7. The average annual rainfall is 589 mm. The average depth of soil freezing is 60-100 cm. The height of snow cover in the forest reaches 50-70 cm, which sufficiently protects forest vegetation from the harmful effects of winter frosts. The predominant winds in the Murom region are south and southwest. In general, the climatic conditions of the forest location should be considered quite favorable for the growth of trees and shrubs, which confirms the presence of highly productive plantations of pine, spruce and birch.

The bedrock underlying the soil is limestone, which comes close to the surface and gradually deepens towards the west. Most of the forest is located on light loams and sandy loams.

The predominance of light loamy and sandy loam soils create favorable conditions for the growth of pine plantations. The river system consists of the Coward River and Soldier Lake. The territory of the forest is assigned to the south-central region of the subzone of mixed forests.

According to the forestry zoning, the forestry forests are assigned to the coniferous-broad-leaved district (the zone of coniferous-broad-leaved forests, the subregion of pine-spruce forests of the Klyazmensko-Oka Upland).

The Kovarditsky forest is a recreational zone of the city of Murom, therefore, in this place there is a high anthropogenic load on the entire forest, especially in the area of Lake Soldatskoye.

2. 1. 2. Physical and geographical characteristics of the natural complex of the State Reserve "Muromsky"

The State Zakaznik is located on the territory of two districts of the Vladimir region - Gorohovets and in the Murom district in the floodplain of the Oka River. The area of the reserve is 62.7 thousand hectares.

The natural complex of the state biological reserve "Muromsky" is located on the Kovrovsko-Kasimovsky plateau, which is one of the natural districts of the Vladimir region. Three physical-geographical regions are distinguished in the district, within one of which - the Nizhneokskaya ancient alluvial lowland - and on the adjacent sections of the Oka floodplain there is a reserve. A separate security object has been allocated on the territory - Lake Visha with a variety of flora and fauna. In general, the territory of the state reserve covers all the diversity natural conditions Oka-Klyazma interfluve.

Geographically, the territory is a flat plain with sandy hills and swampy lowlands. A large area is occupied by outwash plains cut by ridges of low hills serving as watersheds. The plains are composed of thick (up to 15-20 meters) sands of water-glacial origin. The floodplain of the Oka River is a sandy plain with low, slightly soddy ridges and crests. From the surface, it is composed of loams and clays with interlayers of sand and sandy loam. Loams are represented by uneven-grained sands with gravel and pebbles.

Low-lying outwash and alluvial-outland plains are dominated by soddy-slightly ash soils of light mechanical composition, poor in humus and other nutrients, in combination with bog soils. Sandy soils predominate.

The area of the reserve belongs to the temperate continental climate zone and, as a rule, is characterized by moderately warm summers; cold, snowy and long winter; short, cloudy, often rainy spring and relatively warm autumn. According to the Murom meteorological station, the prevailing winds in the territory of the reserve are southwestern. The average annual air temperature is + 3.4 degrees, the warmest month is July, the coldest is February. average temperature their respectively + 19.3 degrees and -11 degrees. The average annual rainfall is 588 mm, and the largest number precipitation according to the seasons falls on the summer - 199 mm. The earliest frosts (the end of spring frosts) were recorded on April 15, the latest - on June 13. End dates for the last frosts in spring are mostly May 14th. Periodic droughts, dry winds and heavy rains are not observed.

The territory of the reserve is part of mixed forests and belongs to the subzone of coniferous forests in the southern part of the taiga. Slightly dissected watersheds and dry sandy expanses of terraces are covered with pine forests. On the tops of hills, sand dunes, light lichen forests and heath forests are common. Pine forests, green mosses with lingonberries, blueberries and well-developed moss cover grow on gentle slopes, flat tops and on more even areas. Sphagnum pine forests are widespread in deeper depressions of the relief, with significant waterlogging. Birch forests are common in low landforms. In places where the sands are closely underlain by loams, on more waterlogged parts of the terraces there are oak forests confined to ridge elevations.

The study area experiences medium and low anthropogenic pressure. A stronger human impact was found near the shore of Lake Vichy, the farther from the reservoir, the lower the anthropogenic load.

2. 2. Methods and techniques

The method of route accounting was used in the work. All anthills they encountered were put on the diagram, numbered and measured.

The ant colony density was calculated using the formula: P=K/F (m²/ha), where: K is the sum of the dome base areas (in m²), F is the area occupied by the complex (in ha). To determine the volume of nests, the height and diameter of the dome are measured, and they are determined according to the table

Table 1

Determining the volume of nests

Dome diameter, Dome height, m H

0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8

0, 25 0, 04 0, 80 0, 052 1, 35 1, 43 1, 90 2, 83

0, 30 0, 07 0, 085 0, 58 1, 40 1, 54 1, 95 2, 98

0, 35 0, 10 0, 90 0, 64 1, 45 1, 65 2, 00 3, 14

0, 40 0, 13 0, 95 0, 71 1, 50 1, 77 2, 05 3, 30

0, 45 0, 17 1, 00 0, 79 1, 55 1, 89 2, 10 3, 46

0, 50 0, 20 1, 05 0, 86 1, 60 2, 01 2, 15 3, 63

0, 55 0, 24 1, 10 0, 95 1, 65 2, 14 2, 20 3, 80

0, 60 0, 28 1, 15 1, 04 1, 70 2, 27 2, 25 3, 97

0, 65 0, 33 1, 20 1, 13 1, 75 2, 40 2, 30 4, 15

0, 70 0, 39 1, 25 1, 23 1, 80 2, 54 2, 35 4, 33

0, 75 0, 46 1, 30 1, 33 1, 85 2, 68 2, 40 4, 52

Ants were collected and their species was determined using the methodology of A.P. Bukin and G.M. Dlussky. For each complex of anthills, a passport was drawn up according to the method of passportization of anthills.

To determine the genus and species of ants, a digital microscope and the "Insect Guide" edited by Plavilshchikov N.N., were used. – M.: Uchpedgiz.

Passport of the complex of anthills.

Forestry_

Brief taxation description of the plot:

·age_

completeness_

Slope location_

Full name, position of responsible_

mark of damage to the complex_

3. Research results and their discussion.

The first stage in the study of the species diversity of ants in areas with different anthropogenic pressure was the area of the Kovarditsky forest with an area of 1 ha, which includes test sites on the edge of the forest, in a clearing, in a forest area, and on the coastal zone of Lake Soldatsky. Based on the data obtained, a table of species diversity of ants on the control plots was compiled.

Table 3

Species diversity of ants on test plots of the Kovarditsky forest site.

Ant species, control site no.1 2 3

Kovarditsky forest

1 0.28 0.083 Oval shape

2 0.47 0.16 With external shaft

3 0.79 0.30 Oval

4 1.77 2.99 Concealed shaft

5 0.34 0.14 Oval

6 0.64 0.21 Oval shape

7 0.58 0.14 With hidden shaft

8 0.39 0.16 Oval shape

9 0.46 0.19 With hidden shaft

10 0.20 0.044 Hidden shaft

11 0.17 0.024 Oval shape

12 0.33 0.12 Oval shape

13 0.79 0.40 Oval

PA "Muromsky"

1 0.33 0.096 Oval shape

2 0.25 0.115 With external shaft

3 1.73 2.7 Oval

4 0.58 0.16 Concealed shaft

5 0.35 0.13 With external shaft

6 0.21 0.052 With external shaft

7 0.69 014 Oval

8 0.54 0.13 With hidden shaft

9 0.23 0.135 With external shaft

10 0.56 0.19 Oval

11 0.24 0.141 With external shaft

12 0.67 0.17 Concealed shaft

13 0.37 0.156 Concealed shaft

14 0.26 0.122 With external shaft

15 0.56 0.29 Oval

16 0.35 0.143 Oval

17 0.66 0.37 With external shaft

18 0.34 0.16 With external shaft

19 0.78 0.37 Concealed shaft

20 1.43 2.31 With external shaft

21 0.37 0.154 Oval shape

22 0.71 0.29 With hidden shaft

23 0.41 0.19 Oval shape

In the Kovarditsky forest, 13 anthills were found on eight test sites, among which the largest area is 1.77 m2, the volume is 3.05 m in carpenter ants. The found anthills have the following types: oval, with a hidden shaft, with an external shaft.

On the territory of the protected area "Muromsky" with an insignificant anthropogenic load, 13 anthills were found, among which the largest area is 1.73 m2, the volume is 2.7 m3, and u3. As in the first case, there are three types of anthills, but anthills of oval shape and with an external shaft predominate. In the reserve, the size of ant nests is small, presumably this may be due to the constant destruction by wild boars, since this area is a feeding place.

All anthills are cone-shaped. In the red forest ant, the anthill consists of small twigs, plant debris, and pine needles. The anthills of the red woodworm were located near the stumps and consisted of large pine twigs and pieces of bark. The variety in the forms, materials used for the construction of anthills is determined by the structure and lifestyle of ants. In the Kovarditsky forest, traces of human impact were noted in two anthills. On the territory of the reserve, there are traces of the destruction of anthills by wild boars.

The data obtained made it possible to create a passport for the complex of anthills.

Scientists have proven that red woodworm ants and yellow earth ants are the most adapted to anthropogenic loads, and red forest ants are the least adapted. Exploring the territory of the Kovarditsky forest and the Muromsky PA area, these data were confirmed. The most common species in the study area is the red wood borer ant.

The Kovarditsky forest is more susceptible to anthropogenic pressure from humans, since it is the nearest recreational recreation area for the urban population, this has an impact on the change in the species diversity of ants, three species have been noted in this place.

Although the protected area is a protected area, tourists often rest there, organizing unauthorized garbage dumps, destroying the forest floor, all this leads to a deterioration in the ecological state of this amazing place. The red wood ant is less ecologically plastic; therefore, in areas with an average anthropogenic load, this type of ant is very rare. Also, one of the theories of a small number of ants in the forest area along Lake Vishi (PA "Muromsky") is the presence of a large number of wild boars that destroy ant nests, using them as " sanitary baths". The red forest ant moves deep into the forest, leaving its anthills. More adapted to heavy loads, the red wood borer ant actively occupies the places that once belonged to the red forest ant.

The results obtained during the work and data analysis allow us to draw the following conclusions:

1. The following types of ants are found in the studied territories:

1) Brown forest ant (Formica fursa L.)

2) Red borer ant (Tetramorium caespitum)

3) Red forest ant (Formica rufa L.)

4) Red-cheeked miner ant (Serviformica rifibarbis)

5) Yellow earth ant (Lasius flavus)

6) Small forest ant (Formica polystena)

2. The most common is the red wood borer ant, more rarely the small forest ant;

3. Density of ant colonies on test plots differs sharply;

4. A fairly high population density is observed on the territory of the reserve with the lowest anthropogenic load, and the lowest in the Kovarditsky forest with a high anthropogenic load.

5. In the study areas, 36 ant nests were found, differing in area, volume and shape, which is associated with the diversity of ant species.

6. The area of ant colony ranges from 0.0502 m²/ha to 0.0875 m²/ha.

7. The greatest diversity of species and high density of settlements is represented on the territory of the reserve, which is associated with a lower pressure on the study area, the increase of which may affect the reduction of species.

5. Conclusion

The habitat of animals is influenced by man and nature, it is constantly changing. There are practically no places in our region that have not been changed by man. This, in turn, affects the species composition of animals, including ants.

No myrmicological studies have ever been conducted in Moore County. this work is the only one. But in a number of other districts of the Vladimir region, such studies were carried out, but they had a point character. It should be taken into account that many information about anthills is outdated, therefore, it can be recommended to conduct a number of new studies aimed at studying the species composition of ants in the Murom Territory, combine the data obtained and compile the Atlas of Ant Species Diversity in the Murom Territory. It is necessary to involve participants in the school forestries of our district in this work, to create passports for anthills of red forest ants, since they are indicators of the ecological state of the forest.

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