Specimen Showcase | 👻 Who You Gonna Call?

🐜 𝘛𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮 (Fabricius, 1793) is a species of ant. The name comes from the Greek for “low” (because it is small, at 1.5 mm) and “black head” because its head and thorax are dark while its abdomen and legs are pale and translucent. They are known as ghost ants because their heads appear to be floating when they run across a light surface, whereas when they crawl on a dark surface, their ghostly pallor and erratic movements while running stick out. Apparently, when crushed, ghost ants give off a strong smell, which some describe as rotten coconut. Not that spooky! 🍹

𝘛. 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮 is predominantly a tropical ant, but it has one of the top widest distributions for any ant species. 🌏 It’s a “tramp species”, which means that it has been spread around the world thanks to humans who facilitated their travels; so much so that it is hard to pinpoint an origin: perhaps the Indo-Pacific region. There is a catch, however, as what is often referred to as 𝘛. 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮 is not one, but several distinct species that morphologically look very similar and are thus easily confused. This complex of species is unfortunately still poorly known, with more species expected to be described in the future.

These species are found both outdoors and indoors, and often become uninvited guests in buildings, including hospitals, schools and homes. 🏠 They don’t have stingers and their bite is harmless, but they have been known to carry pathogens such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect humans, as well as plant diseases which can destroy crops. The worst thing a ghost ant is likely to do if you encounter it at home, though, is try to share your leftovers. Better to ghost-bust your pantry! 🧯

👸 Ants usually have one queen who does all the mating and egg-laying for the colony. Some species, however, including ghost ants, are “polygynous”, which means that a colony has more than one queen at once, resulting in more of a baby factory setup. 🥚 Ghost ants also build and relocate their nests quite easily, for instance sneaking into luggage, books, CD covers, live plants or cargo, which is how they spread so fast and so far. 🚢

Ghost ant workers forage and bring back food to the larvae in their nests. The workers are small and so are their oesophaguses, so they can only feed on liquids or small food. Larvae have powerful teeth and so can eat larger bites when these are brought to them. 😋 𝘛. 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮 feeds on a wide range of sweet and greasy things, from spills in your kitchen to honeydew produced by tiny species such as aphids or mealybugs that feed on plant sap.

🎨 Have you ever seen those videos of ants drinking different coloured sugar water, where you can see the colours filling up the ants’ abdomens? Ghost ants, with their see-through abdomens, are ideal for this! You can watch a video of them here: bit.ly/3PN9Fsj

*pigments are harmless to ants

The huge ant collection at the HKBM is mostly safely hidden away because the specimens are too teeny to marvel at with the naked eye. 🔬 You will get to see some close up, though, during our microscope demonstrations, which our amazing tour guides do every session!

Text: Elvira Rey Redondo

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