#Prolasius

[drhoz]

#2362 - Prolasius advena - Small Brown Bush Ant

The other 18 species in the genus are all Australian.

Prolasius advena lives in Nothofagus forests on the North and South islands, usually nesting under stones or rotting logs. Colonies are multi-queened with hundreds of workers. Unlike most New Zealand ants, it defends itself by spraying formic acid rather than stinging.

Several beetle associations have been recorded - a staphylinid (Holotrochus sp.), a small endemic stag beetle (Ceratognathus passaliformis), and a pselaphid beetle (Ecomorypora granulata). The worker ants also feed on sap exposed by the puriri moth (Aenetus virescens) as it feeds on the wood of putaputaweta trees (Carpodetus serrata). Also a known host of the parasitic nematode Diploscapter formicidae.

Tawhai Falls, North Island Volcanic Plateau, New Zealand