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Ants of Zihuatanejo

FAMILY FORMICIDAE

Acrobat Ants
Crematogaster (Genus)

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies (Order Hymenoptera)

-Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees (Suborder Apocrita)

-Ants, Bees, and Stinging Wasps (Infraorder Aculeata)

-Superfamily Formicoidea

-Ants (Family Formicidae)

-Myrmicine Ants (Subfamily Myrmicinae)

-Crematogastrin Ants (Tribe Crematogastrini)

-Acrobat Ants (Genus Crematogaster)


Crematogaster ants, commonly known as Acrobat Ants, belong to the subfamily Formicinae within the family Formicidae. Crematogaster ants typically have a distinctive heart-shaped or elongated gaster (the hind segment of the abdomen), which they can elevate over their thorax when threatened or disturbed. These ants are omnivorous and forage for a wide range of food sources, including nectar, honeydew (excreted by aphids), seeds, and small insects. They often form trails to guide other colony members to food sources.

Diet

  • Omnivorous, feeding on honeydew from aphids, scale insects, and treehoppers, as well as nectar, plant sap, pollen, fungi, dead insects, and small arthropods.

  • Workers readily prey on caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects and are important scavengers.

  • Frequently visit flowers and extrafloral nectaries for sugary foods.

Range

  • The genus Crematogaster is distributed worldwide, with its greatest diversity in the tropics.

  • In the Americas, species occur from Canada through Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.

  • Numerous species occur throughout Mexico, including the Pacific coast of Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

Habitat

  • Inhabits tropical dry forests, tropical rainforests, mangroves, pine-oak forests, secondary forests, woodland edges, plantations, gardens, and urban areas.

  • Nests in dead branches, hollow twigs, beneath bark, tree cavities, rotting logs, and occasionally in soil or buildings.

  • Most species are arboreal, foraging extensively through the forest canopy and on tree trunks.

Size

  • Worker length: 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in)

  • Queen length: 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in)

  • Colonies typically contain several thousand to tens of thousands of workers.

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