Forelius pusillus

Forelius pusillus
	Forelius pusillus worker
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Genus:	Forelius
Species:	F. pusillus
Binomial name
	Forelius pusillus; Santschi, 1922
Synonyms
	Neoforelius tucumanus Kusnezov, 1953;

Forelius pusillus is a species of ant in the genus Forelius. Described by Santschi in 1922, the species is endemic to South America.^[1]

Behaviour

Forelius pusillus is noted to perform "pre-emptive defensive self-sacrifice", where a group of ants leave the security of the nest after sealing the entrance from the outside each evening.^[2]

References

^ Cuezzo, F. 2000. Revisión del género Forelius (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae). Sociobiology 35: 197-275 (page 263, Raised to species and senior synonym of tucumanus)
^ Tofilski, Adam; Couvillon, Margaret J.; Evison, Sophie E. F.; Helanterä, Heikki; Robinson, Elva J. H.; Ratnieks, Francis L. W. (2008-11-01). "Preemptive Defensive Self‐Sacrifice by Ant Workers". The American Naturalist. 172 (5): E239–E243. doi:10.1086/591688. ISSN 0003-0147. PMID 18928332.

External links

Media related to Forelius pusillus at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] Cuezzo, F. 2000. Revisión del género Forelius (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae). Sociobiology 35: 197-275 (page 263, Raised to species and senior synonym of tucumanus)

[2] Tofilski, Adam; Couvillon, Margaret J.; Evison, Sophie E. F.; Helanterä, Heikki; Robinson, Elva J. H.; Ratnieks, Francis L. W. (2008-11-01). "Preemptive Defensive Self‐Sacrifice by Ant Workers". The American Naturalist. 172 (5): E239–E243. doi:10.1086/591688. ISSN 0003-0147. PMID 18928332.

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