Colobopsis explodens
Colobopsis explodens Laciny & Zettel 2018 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]
| Colobopsis explodens | |
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| Species: | C. explodens |
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| Colobopsis explodens Laciny & Zettel 2018[1] | |
The species was formally known as "yellow goo", named after the brightly colored gunk produced by its exploding worker ants.[2]
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]
Colobopsis explodens pupa
References
- 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.
- Weisberger, Mindy; April 19, Senior Writer |; ET, 2018 02:07pm. "Exploding Ants Kill Foes, and Themselves, with a Blast of Toxic Goo". Live Science. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
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