Behavioral-evolution
Guides
Polyergus
Amazon ants, slave-raiding ants, slave-making ants
Polyergus is a genus of 14 described species of obligate slave-making ants found throughout the northern hemisphere. Workers possess highly specialized dagger-like mandibles adapted for piercing the heads of host ants during raids, but have lost the ability to perform brood care or feed themselves. All colonies depend entirely on captured workers from the genus Formica to perform nest maintenance, foraging, and brood rearing. New colonies are founded when a single queen invades an existing Formica nest, eventually killing the host queen and assuming control of the worker force.
Yponomeuta multipunctella
American Ermine Moth
Yponomeuta multipunctella, commonly known as the American Ermine Moth, is a small moth in the family Yponomeutidae. It belongs to a genus noted for larvae that construct communal silk webs on host plants. The species is recorded from the northeastern United States, particularly Vermont. As a member of the Yponomeuta genus, it shares behavioral traits with related species, including flight-to-light behavior that has been demonstrated to vary under selection pressure from artificial light pollution.