Colobopsis explodens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Genus: Colobopsis
Species:
C. explodens
Binomial name
Colobopsis explodens
Laciny & Zettel 2018[1]

Colobopsis explodens is a species of ant which is found in Southeast Asia. It is noted for a rare combat mechanism of workers exploding in self-defense, smothering the enemy with toxic and often deadly secretion.[1]

Defenses

Scheme of a worker ant's anatomy
Colobopsis explodens pupa

The species was formerly known informally as "yellow goo", named after the brightly colored gunk produced by its exploding worker ants.[2]

Territory

Their colonies can contain thousands of individual ants and inhabit the leafy canopies of trees that stand as tall as 197 feet (60 meters) and cover an area of at least 26,900 square feet (2,500 square meters).[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Laciny, A.; Zettel, H.; Kopchinskiy, A.; Pretzer, C.; Pal, A.; Salim, K.A.; Rahimi, M.J; Hoenigsberger, M.; Lim, L.; Jaitrong, W.; Druzhinina, IS (2018). "Colobopsis explodens sp. n., model species for studies on "exploding ants" (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with biological notes and first illustrations of males of the Colobopsis cylindrica group". ZooKeys (751): 1–40. doi:10.3897/zookeys.751.22661. PMC 5919914. PMID 29706783.
  2. 1 2 Weisberger, Mindy; April 19, Senior Writer |; ET, 2018 02:07pm (19 April 2018). "Exploding Ants Kill Foes, and Themselves, with a Blast of Toxic Goo". Live Science. Retrieved 2019-02-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)


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