Search results for "Leptogenys"

Predatory behavior in the genusLeptogenys: A comparative study

1997

We studied the predatory behavior of seven species of the genusLeptogenys from Mexico and Cameroon. The ants of this genus are armed with long, thin, curved mandibles articulated at the extreme corners of the anterior margin of the head, permitting them easily to seize oniscoid isopods, the obligate or the principal prey of mostLeptogenys species. Workers hunt these prey, which are able to roll themselves up, solitarily. Foraging behavior comprises sequences of up to eight activities. The prey can be seized by the body (rolled up or not), or alternatively by the edge of the shell, then turned over and stung on the ventral face. A relationship between the mandible size of the workers and the…