Forelius pusillus is a species of ant in the genus Forelius. Described by Santschi in 1922, the species is endemic to South America.
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
External links
- Media related to Forelius pusillus at Wikimedia Commons
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. S2CID 7052340. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩