Social-parasite-host
Guides
Bombus polaris
Polar Bumble Bee
Bombus polaris is a social Arctic bumble bee adapted to extreme cold environments, occurring above the Arctic Circle in circumpolar regions. It possesses specialized thermoregulatory abilities, dense insulating hair, and constructs heavily insulated nests to survive near-freezing temperatures. The species has an accelerated colony cycle compressed into a short growing season of two to three months. It serves as a critical early-season pollinator in Arctic ecosystems and is the primary host for two social parasite species, Bombus hyperboreus and Bombus natvigi.
Formica argentea
Silvery Field Ant
Formica argentea is a North American ant species in the fusca group, first described by Wheeler in 1912. It is characterized by a silvery sheen on abdominal pubescence and reddish-brown appendages. The species occurs in western montane regions, including the Sierra Nevada, and has been documented as a host for the slave-making ant Polyergus breviceps. It belongs to the subsericea species complex and is closely related to F. subsericea, with which it overlaps in parts of its range.
Formica occulta
Formica occulta is a species of ant in the genus Formica, described by Francoeur in 1973. It is known primarily as a host species for the obligatory slave-making ant Polyergus breviceps, which usurps F. occulta nests and enslaves its workers. Enslaved workers rear P. breviceps offspring alongside their own species' brood. The species has been studied in the context of host-parasite coevolutionary dynamics and brood adoption behaviors.
Temnothorax longispinosus
Long-spined Acorn Ant
Temnothorax longispinosus is a small North American ant species, measuring 2–2.5 mm in length, commonly known as the Long-spined Acorn Ant. It inhabits forest environments and nests primarily in preformed cavities within leaf litter, including hollow nuts and acorns. The species exhibits remarkable queen polymorphism with three distinct morphs associated with alternative nest-founding strategies: small queens with reduced flight capacity that practice dependent colony founding by returning to natal nests; large queens with low fat reserves that found colonies via pleometrosis (cooperative founding with multiple queens); and large queens with high fat reserves that practice haplometrosis (solitary founding). This species serves as a host for the slave-making ant Protomognathus americanus and has been extensively studied for its genomic adaptations to climate variation and parasite pressure.