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Ant Venoms: A Study of Venom Diversity

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Pesticide and Venom Neurotoxicity

Abstract

Ant venoms appear to represent an almost untapped reservoir of information capable of adding several exciting chapters to the story of toxinology. Ants share with some bees and wasps the distinction of being the only truly social group of venomous animals. This fact implies that most of the venomous individuals belong to an essentially sterile class of worker individuals, and that survival of the species depends on colony rather than individual survival. Unlike social bees and wasps, which use their stings solely for defense, ant stings are utilized for a variety of additional functions, including prey capture and the elaboration of trail, sex, aggregation, and alarm pheromones. In parallel with the evolutionary development of varied stinging behaviors were major changes in the venom composition and the sting apparatus itself. This plasticity in form, function, and composition associated with the sting apparatus may be correlated with the success of ants in dominating most of the terrestrial environments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Justin O. Schmidt

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  1. Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi, USA

    D. L. Shankland

  2. Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    R. M. Hollingworth

  3. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    T. Smyth Jr.

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© 1978 Plenum Press, New York

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Schmidt, J.O. (1978). Ant Venoms: A Study of Venom Diversity. In: Shankland, D.L., Hollingworth, R.M., Smyth, T. (eds) Pesticide and Venom Neurotoxicity. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8834-4_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8834-4_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-8836-8

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