Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi, a species of ac­ro­bat ant, is na­tive to the Nearc­tic re­gion. It is found in south­ern Canada, through­out much of the United States, and into north­ern Mex­ico. In the United States, it ranges west to the Rocky Moun­tains and New Mex­ico, east to the east­ern coastal states, and as far south as Florida. It is par­tic­u­larly com­mon in the Mid­west and in the north­east­ern states. (John­son, 1988; Smith, 1965)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi builds its nests pri­mar­ily in trees such as under bark, in hol­low stems, or other cav­i­ties, but also lives in logs and stumps or under leaf lit­ter and stones. These ants also nest in­side houses and other build­ings, usu­ally in tight spaces such as be­tween shin­gles and in or around doors and win­dows. They are most com­mon in forests, but can also be found in grass­lands, pas­tures, bogs, and marshes. They are even oc­ca­sion­ally found in moun­tain re­gions, as high as 2,350 m. In the south­ern por­tion of their range, they tend to live in drier, ri­par­ian habi­tats, while in the north they are more fre­quent in wet­ter wood­lands and fields. (Ellis, et al., 2000; Jan­der, 1990; John­son, 1988; Kan­nowski, 1959; Mackay and Mackay, 2003; Rice, 2013; Smith, 1965; Thomp­son, 1990)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland
• forest

• Wetlands
• marsh
• bog

• Other Habitat Features
• suburban
• agricultural
• riparian

• Range elevation

  2350 (high) m

  7709.97 (high) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Work­ers of Cre­mato­gaster cerasi are typ­i­cally 2.6 to 4.0 mm in length. Queens are larger at 7.0 to 8.0 mm in length. These ants range from red­dish-brown to dark brown to black in color. Ants of genus Cre­mato­gaster have unique heart shaped gasters, with the gaster flat­tened dor­sally and con­vex ven­trally. This genus has 11 seg­mented an­ten­nae, with 3 seg­mented an­ten­nal clubs. The dor­sal face of the peti­ole is flat­tened, while the post-peti­ole has two lobes sep­a­rated by a crevice, the post-peti­ole at­taches to the dor­sum of the gaster. While genus Cre­mato­gaster is rea­son­ably easy to iden­tify, es­pe­cially due to the dis­tinct gaster, in­di­vid­ual species are more dif­fi­cult to dis­tin­guish. Cre­mato­gaster cerasi can be dis­tin­guished from other Cre­mato­gaster species by one or two long, erect hairs on each cor­ner of the prono­tum. Males and re­pro­duc­tive fe­males have wings, while work­ers do not. Queens lose their wings after mat­ing. Lar­vae are 1.0 to 1.1 mm in length when they have first hatched and can grow to 1.9 mm long. The lar­val body is curved and seg­mented and the in­tegu­ment grows smooth when the larva nears molt­ing. (El­li­son, et al., 2012; Mackay and Mackay, 2003; Rice, 2013; Smith, 1965; Thomp­son, 1990; Wheeler and Wheeler, 1973)

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• heterothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Range length

  2.6 to 4.0 mm

  0.10 to 0.16 in

De­vel­op­ment

Ants are holometabolous. Eggs hatch into lar­vae, which re­quire sig­nif­i­cant care from the adults to sur­vive. They then de­velop into pupae, which even­tu­ally de­velop into adults. For a short pe­riod time after the pupal stage, the adult ants are in a cal­low stage, where the ant is white in color, weak, and less ac­tive. Most off­spring de­velop into fe­male work­ers. Males and alate fe­males are pre­sent in the nest in late sum­mer. (Kan­nowski, 1959)

• Development - Life Cycle
• metamorphosis

Re­pro­duc­tion

Mat­ing takes place in late sum­mer, after male and alate fe­male broods hatch and de­velop in the nest. Adult re­pro­duc­tives are pre­sent start­ing in July. Nup­tial flights occur from late July to early Sep­tem­ber. Dur­ing the nup­tial flights, swarms can occur, typ­i­cally with males seek­ing out fe­male mates. Fe­males mate only once in their lives, with males dying shortly after mat­ing. (Kan­nowski, 1959; Mar­shall, 2006)

• Mating System
• eusocial

After mat­ing, the queens go out in search of a suit­able lo­ca­tion to begin a new colony. Queens often take shel­ter in aban­doned bee­tle or ter­mite gal­leries in branches of trees, as well as other lo­ca­tions, and they re­move their wings. Some may over­win­ter be­fore pro­duc­ing a brood, while oth­ers begin egg pro­duc­tion soon after. Queens have a very high mor­tal­ity rate at this point in their lives, with only a small frac­tion of mated fe­males suc­cess­fully found­ing colonies. The first batch of eggs de­vel­ops into the first work­ers that tend the queen and fu­ture broods. When the colony is es­tab­lished, re­pro­duc­tive fe­males and males are pro­duced. Queens store sperm and lay eggs through­out their lives. Al­though the work­ers are fe­male, they do not mate. Cre­mato­gaster colonies can last 10 to 15 years. Some re­ports sug­gest this species may be polyg­y­nous, with mul­ti­ple queens per nest, as nests are often found with sev­eral dealate fe­males. (Kan­nowski, 1959; Mackay and Mackay, 2003; Rice, 2013)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• fertilization
  • internal
• oviparous
• sperm-storing

• Breeding interval

  Queens mate only once in their lifetime and males die shortly after mating.

• Breeding season

  Mating takes place during late summer, but brood production continues throughout a queen's life.

Fe­male work­ers of Cre­mato­gaster cerasi in­vest sig­nif­i­cant care in the brood pro­duced by the queen. Since the lar­vae and pupae are help­less and con­fined to the nest, the work­ers must tend them and sup­ply food. Work­ers feed the brood via trophal­laxis, which is the mouth to mouth re­gur­gi­ta­tion of food. Work­ers also pro­tect the brood from po­ten­tial threats. The bee­tle Fustiger knausii often lives in the nests of Cre­mato­gaster cerasi, and if any bee­tles are pre­sent near the brood, the work­ers ants re­move them. (Leschen, 1991; Mar­shall, 2006)

• Parental Investment
• female parental care
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Males live only a few weeks to a month, and die shortly after mat­ing. While the spe­cific lifes­pan is not avail­able for Cre­mato­gaster cerasi, it is likely sim­i­lar to many other ant species, with work­ers liv­ing sev­eral months. Colonies of Cre­mato­gaster can per­sist for more than 10 years, so queens likely live for sev­eral years. (Mar­shall, 2006; Rice, 2013)

Be­hav­ior

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi for­ages for food both dur­ing the day and night. Work­ers mark trails with pheromones for their nest mates to fol­low. They move in lines, with one ant fol­low­ing an­other. This species is mainly ar­bo­real, con­struct­ing their nests and doing much of their for­ag­ing within trees. These ants are not strictly ar­bo­real and can nest in leaf lit­ter, under stones, or in build­ings. Their colonies can be enor­mous, with 10 thou­sand or more in­di­vid­u­als. Ants of genus Cre­mato­gaster per­form a dis­tinc­tive be­hav­ior when dis­turbed, which gives them the com­mon name 'ac­ro­bat ants'. They have sig­nif­i­cant flex­i­bil­ity in the con­nec­tion be­tween the tho­rax and gaster, al­low­ing them to hold their gaster up over their head and body, and wave it in the air when alarmed. As a eu­so­cial in­sect, Cre­mato­gaster cerasi has a di­vi­sion of labor be­tween the work­ers and re­pro­duc­tives. The role of alate fe­males and males is to mate, and then for the fe­males to found new colonies and pro­duce off­spring. Work­ers tend to the brood, for­age, and pro­tect the nest. The work­ers of most Cre­mato­gaster species are monomor­phic, though some are slightly poly­mor­phic. While Cre­mato­gaster cerasi is not specif­i­cally men­tioned in the lit­er­a­ture, work­ers are likely monomor­phic with no or lit­tle di­vi­sion of labor. (Ellis, et al., 2000; El­li­son, et al., 2012; Mar­shall, 2006; Rice, 2013; Thomp­son, 1990)

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal
• diurnal
• nocturnal
• motile
• sedentary
• colonial

Home Range

There is cur­rently no in­for­ma­tion avail­able about the home range size of these ants.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

An­ten­nae are the main sen­sory or­gans of ants. They are used to de­tect chem­i­cals and pheromones, to iden­tify nest mates and re­pro­duc­tive mates, and also to feel the en­vi­ron­ment around them. Ants reg­u­larly groom their an­ten­nae to pre­vent buildup of chem­i­cals and par­ti­cles. Pheromones are an im­por­tant method of com­mu­ni­ca­tion be­tween in­di­vid­u­als. Cre­mato­gaster cerasi emits an alarm pheromone to alert its nest mates of a threat. Cre­mato­gaster ants also use trail pheromones to mark paths to food sources and other lo­ca­tions. Ants in this genus are unique, as the gland for trail chem­i­cals is in their hind legs, not in their gaster. Most ants use the tip of their gaster to lay trail pheromones, but be­cause of the unique shape of the Cre­mato­gaster gaster, they can­not put the tip of their gaster in con­tact with the ground. So in­stead, the gland is lo­cated in the hind legs, and the ants adopt a strange-look­ing run when mark­ing the trail. (Boroczky, et al., 2013; Crewe, et al., 1972; Mor­gan, et al., 2004)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• pheromones

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• chemical

Food Habits

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi is om­niv­o­rous. Hon­ey­dew from in­sects such as aphids makes up a large por­tion of its diet, as well as nec­tar from extra flo­ral nec­taries. They also eat the ed­i­ble parts of seeds. Cre­mato­gaster cerasi is also a preda­tor. They prey on live in­sects and also scav­enge dead in­sects. Ants that find their way in­side homes and build­ings read­ily eat what­ever human foods they come across. (Beat­tie and Cul­ver, 1981; Rice, 2013; Smith, 1965; Stephen­son, 1981; Thomp­son, 1990)

• Primary Diet
• omnivore

• Animal Foods
• insects

• Plant Foods
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• nectar

Pre­da­tion

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi is preyed on by spi­ders, bee­tles, and other in­sects, as well as birds, small mam­mals such as mice, and oc­ca­sion­ally black bears. (Noyce, et al., 1997; Rice, 2013)

• Known Predators

  • spiders (Araneae)
  • small mammals (Mammalia)
  • rodents (Rodentia)
  • beetles (Coleoptera)
  • insects (Insecta)
  • birds (Aves)
  • black bears (Urssus americanus)

Ecosys­tem Roles

In some for­est habi­tats, Cre­mato­gaster cerasi can be one of the dom­i­nant ant species. It is a preda­tor of other in­sects, and can serve as prey to a va­ri­ety of other an­i­mals in­clud­ing spi­ders, birds, bears, and other in­sects. These ants likely have a min­i­mal im­pact on seed dis­per­sal. The ants trans­port seeds and eat the ed­i­ble part, the elaio­some, and leave the rest, al­low­ing the seed to ger­mi­nate in a new lo­ca­tion. These ants also form mu­tu­al­is­tic re­la­tion­ships with hon­ey­dew ex­cret­ing in­sects such as aphids and scale in­sects. In turn for eat­ing the hon­ey­dew these in­sects pro­duce, the ants pro­vide care and pro­tec­tion from preda­tors and par­a­sitoids. Some of the aphid species they tend in­clude Sipha flava, Aphis pomi, Aphis spi­raecola, and Neo­ceru­raphis vibur­ni­cola, as well as scale in­sects such as Eu­le­ca­nium cera­so­rum and Ne­ole­ca­nium cor­nu­parvum. Nests of ac­ro­bat ants are often in­hab­ited by other or­gan­isms, form­ing com­men­sal re­la­tion­ships, in which the ants are largely un­af­fected. The bee­tle Fustiger knausii is one species that can be found in the nests. The ants do not seem both­ered by the bee­tles, though the work­ers will re­move bee­tles if they are near the brood. Work­ers will groom the bee­tles, and vice versa. The bee­tles will also ride on the ants; the ants do not re­spond and ap­pear un­af­fected. There has also been some ev­i­dence of trophal­laxis be­tween the species. Crick­ets of genus Myrme­cophilus also often in­habit the nest, with no ef­fect on the ants. There are also sev­eral species of phoretic mites that at­tach them­selves to work­ers of C. cerasi and es­sen­tially hitch a ride to an­other lo­ca­tion. The mites are not par­a­sitic and the ants are not both­ered. Cre­mato­gaster cerasi does have one recorded par­a­sitoid species, phorid flies, the lar­vae of which de­velop in­side the ant's head, even­tu­ally killing it. (Beat­tie and Cul­ver, 1981; Brad­shaw, et al., 2010; Camp­bell, et al., 2013; Ellis, et al., 2000; El­li­son, et al., 2012; Leonard, 1971; Leschen, 1991; Rice, 2013; Smith, 1965; Steyskal, 1944; Vanek and Pot­ter, 2010)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

There are no known pos­i­tive ef­fects of Cre­mato­gaster cerasi on hu­mans.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi can be a house­hold pest, and is es­pe­cially com­mon as a home in­vader in the north­east­ern United States. These ants have been known to live in­side tight spaces within house­holds and just out­side build­ings, ven­tur­ing in­side to feed on house­hold foods. It does not ap­pear to cause much dam­age, but can be a nui­sance. They are de­scribed as strangely dif­fi­cult to squish; those that are stepped on or hit seem merely stunned, be­fore straight­en­ing them­selves out and going back to work. Cre­mato­gaster cerasi is said to in­flict a painful bite. It may also nest in wood that has been dam­aged by other species, and often en­larges the cav­i­ties a bit, caus­ing more dam­age. Since it tends hon­ey­dew pro­duc­ing in­sects, many of which are crop pests, Cre­mato­gaster cerasi is often in­di­rectly re­spon­si­ble for crop dam­age. Since it pro­tects aphid pop­u­la­tions and other pests from preda­tors, it al­lows the pests to con­tinue feed­ing. This species may be an in­ter­me­di­ate host for the poul­try tape­worm, Rail­li­etina tetrag­ona, as it has been ob­served car­ry­ing seg­ments of tape­worm into its nest, which would then in­fect any bird that eats an in­fected ant. There has been lit­tle re­search con­ducted about this method of in­fec­tion and it may not be a huge con­cern, but it has the pos­si­bil­ity of caus­ing do­mes­tic an­i­mal losses. (Brad­shaw, et al., 2010; Mar­shall, 2006; Rice, 2013; Smith, 1965; Thomp­son, 1990)

• Negative Impacts
• household pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi has no spe­cial con­ser­va­tion sta­tus.

• IUCN Red List

  Not Evaluated

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Other Com­ments

Cre­mato­gaster cerasi was for­merly known as Cre­mato­gaster li­ne­o­lata var. cerasi. It may also be re­ferred to as the cherry ant, since it was first found tend­ing aphids on a cherry tree. How­ever, this name is not used with enough reg­u­larly to be con­sid­ered this species' com­mon name. (El­li­son, et al., 2012; Gaddy, 1986)

Con­trib­u­tors

An­gela Miner (au­thor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web Staff, Leila Si­cil­iano Mar­tina (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web Staff.

Ref­er­ences

Beat­tie, A., D. Cul­ver. 1981. The Guild of Myrme­co­chores in the Herba­ceous Flora of West Vir­ginia Forests. Ecol­ogy, 62/1: 107-115.

Boroczky, K., A. Wada-Kat­sumata, D. Batch­e­lor, M. Zhukovskaya, C. Schal. 2013. In­sects groom their an­ten­nae to en­hance ol­fac­tory acu­ity. Pro­ceed­ings of the Na­tional Acad­emy of Sci­ences of the United States of Amer­ica, 110/9: 3615-3620.

Brad­shaw, J., J. Prasifka, K. Stef­fey, M. Gray. 2010. First Re­port of Field Pop­u­la­tions of Two Po­ten­tial Aphid Pests of the Bioen­ergy Crop Mis­cant­hus × Gi­gan­teus. Florida En­to­mol­o­gist, 93/1: 135-137.

Camp­bell, K., H. Klom­pen, T. Crist. 2013. The di­ver­sity and host speci­ficity of mites as­so­ci­ated with ants: The roles of eco­log­i­cal and life his­tory traits of ant hosts. In­sectes So­ci­aux, 60/1: 31-41.

Crewe, R., M. Blum, C. Colling­wood. 1972. Com­par­a­tive analy­sis of alarm pheromones in the ant genus Cre­mato­gaster. Com­par­a­tive Bio­chem­istry and Phys­i­ol­ogy Part B: Com­par­a­tive Bio­chem­istry, 43/3: 703-716.

Ellis, L., M. Molles, Jr., C. Craw­ford, F. Heinzel­mann. 2000. Sur­face-Ac­tive Arthro­pod Com­mu­ni­ties in Na­tive and Ex­otic Ri­par­ian Veg­e­ta­tion in the Mid­dle Rio Grande Val­ley, New Mex­ico. The South­west­ern Nat­u­ral­ist, 45/4: 456-471.

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Gaddy, L. 1986. Twelve New Ant-Dis­persed Species from the South­ern Ap­palachi­ans. Bul­letin of the Tor­rey Botan­i­cal Club, 113/3: 247-251.

Jan­der, R. 1990. Ar­bo­real search in ants- search on branches (Hy­menoptera, Formi­ci­dae). Jour­nal of In­sect Be­hav­ior, 3/4: 515-527.

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Leschen, R. 1991. Be­hav­ioral ob­ser­va­tions on the myrme­cophile Fustiger knausii (Coleoptera: Pse­laphi­dae: Clav­igeri­nae) with a dis­cus­sion of grasp­ing notches in myrme­cophiles. En­to­mo­log­i­cal News, 102/5: 215-222.

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Noyce, K., P. Kan­nowski, M. Riggs. 1997. Black bears as ant-eaters: sea­sonal as­so­ci­a­tions be­tween bear myrme­cophagy and ant ecol­ogy in north-cen­tral Min­nesota. Cana­dian Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 75/10: 1671-1686.

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