A Rare Case of the Presence of Ocelli in a Worker of Aenictus pachycerus (F. Smith, 1858)  (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Bikash Sahoo; Sahanashree Ramakrishnaiah; Aniruddha Datta-Roy

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v73i1.11801

Authors

Bikash Sahoo School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, an OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Khordha, Jatni, Odisha, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3962-9581
Sahanashree Ramakrishnaiah Insect Biosystematics and Conservation Laboratory, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3040-2102
Aniruddha Datta-Roy School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, An OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Khordha, Jatni, Odisha, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5365-3318

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v73i1.11801

Keywords:

Aenictus, army ants, Blind ants, Dorylinae, mutation

Abstract

The worker caste in species of the genus Aenictus Shuckard, 1840 is entirely blind, devoid of compound eyes and ocelli. In contrast, males of the same species possess large compound eyes and three prominent ocelli, which facilitate orientation and navigation during nuptial flights. In a rare observation, the presence of ocelli was documented in a worker individual of Aenictus pachycerus (F. Smith, 1858), a deviation from the typical worker morphology observed within the genus.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Barry, C.K. & Jander, R. (1968). Photoinhibitory Function of the Dorsal Ocelli in the Phototactic Reaction of the Migratory Locust Locusta migratoria L. Nature, 217: 675-677.

Berry, R., Van Kleef, J. & Stange, G. (2007). The mapping of visual space by dragonfly lateral ocelli. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 193: 495-513.

Bolton, B. (2026). An online catalog of the ants of the world. Available from http://antcat.org. Accessed on 23 February 2026.

Bharti, H. (2003). Queen of the army ant Aenictus pachycerus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Aenictinae). Sociobiology, 42: 715-718.

Bharti, H. & Wachkoo, A. A. (2013). Two new species of the ant genus Leptogenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from India, with description of a plesiomorphic ergatogyne. Asian Myrmecology, 5: 11-19.

Borowiec, M. (2016). Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys, 608: 1-280.

Boudinot, B. E., Wachkoo, A. A., Bharti, H. (2016). The first ergatoid male of Platythyrea (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae), with a contribution to colony labor suggested by observation and comparative morphology. Myrmecological News, 22: 59-64.

Cornwell, P.B. (1955). The functions of the ocelli of Calliphora (Diptera) and Locusta (Orthoptera). Journal of Experimental Biology, 32: 217-237.

Eaton, J.L., Tignor, K.R. & Holtzman, G.I. (1983). Role of moth ocelli in timing flight initiation at dusk. Physiological Entomology, 8: 371-375.

Honkanen, A., Saari, P., Takalo, J., Heimonen, K. & Weckström, M. (2018). The role of ocelli in cockroach optomotor performance. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 204: 231-243.

Lindauer, M. & Schricker, B. (1963). Über die Funktion der Ocellen bei den Dämmerungsflügen der Honigbiene. Biologisches Zeitblatt, 82: 127-140.

Mizunami, M. (1995). Information Processing in the Insect Ocellar System: Comparative Approaches to the Evolution of Visual Processing and Neural Circuits. Advances in Insect Physiology, 25: 151-152.

Narendra, A., Reid, S.F., Greiner, B., Peters, R.A., Hemmi, J.M., Ribi, W.A. & Zeil, J. (2010). Caste-specific visual adaptations to distinct daily activity schedules in Australian Myrmecia ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 278: 1141-1149.

Narendra, A. & Ribi, W.A. (2017). Ocellar structure is driven by the mode of locomotion and activity time in Myrmecia ants. Journal of Experimental Biology, 220: 43834390.

Penmetcha, B., Ogawa, Y., Ribi, W.A. & Narendra, A. (2019). Ocellar structure of African and Australian desert ants. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 205: 699-706.

Penmetcha, B., Ogawa, Y., Ryan, L.A., Hart, N.S. & Narendra, A. (2021). Ocellar spatial vision in Myrmecia ants. Journal of Experimental Biology, 224: jeb242948.

Schricker, B. (1965). Die orientierung der honigbiene in der Dämmerung. Zeitschrift für vergleichende Physiologie, 4: 420-458.

Schwarz, S., Narendra, A. & Zeil, J. (2011). The properties of the visual system in the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti. Arthropod Structure & Development, 40: 128-134.

Shuckard, W.E. (1840) Monograph of the Dorylidae, a family of the Hymenoptera Heterogyna. (Continued from p. 201). Annals of Natural History, 5: 258-271.

Stange, G. (1981). The ocellar component of flight equilibrium control in dragonflies. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 141: 335-347.

Stange, G., Stowe, S., Chahl, J. S. & Massaro, A. (2002). Anisotropic imaging in the dragonfly median ocellus: a matched filter for horizon detection. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 188: 455-467.

Taylor, C.P. (1981). Contribution of compound eyes and ocelli to steering of locusts in flight. Journal of Experimental Biology, 93: 1-18.

Wellington, W.G. (1974). Bumblebee Ocelli and Navigation at Dusk. Science, 183: 550-551.

Wilson, M. (1978). The functional organisation of locust ocelli. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 124: 297-316.