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Monsoon of South Asia
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A visualisation of the South Asian Monsoon based on the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) 30+ year quasi-global rainfall dataset, analysed and visualised using Google Earth Engine.
Annual average monsoon precipitation in India over 110 years. The long-term average has been 899 millimeters of precipitation.[1] However, the monsoon varies over the Indian subcontinent within a ±20% range. Rains that exceed 10% typically lead to major floods, while a 10% shortfall is a significant drought.[2]
The monsoon of South Asia is among several geographically distributed global monsoons. It affects the Indian subcontinent, where it is one of the oldest and most anticipated weather phenomena and an economically important pattern every year from June through September, but it is only partly understood and notoriously difficult to predict. Several theories have been proposed to explain the origin, process, strength, variability, distribution, and general vagaries of the monsoon, but understanding and predictability are still evolving.
The unique geographical features of the Indian subcontinent, along with associated atmospheric, oceanic, and geophysical factors, influence the behavior of the monsoon. Because of its effect on agriculture, on flora and fauna, and on the climates of nations such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — among other economic, social, and environmental effects — the monsoon is one of the most anticipated, tracked,[3] and studied weather phenomena in the region. It has a significant effect on the overall well-being of residents and has even been dubbed the "real finance minister of India".[4][5]
Contents
[hide]
1 Definition
2 Background
3 Mechanism of the monsoon
3.1 Effect of geographical relief features
4 Features of monsoon rains
4.1 "Bursting"
4.2 Rain variability ("vagaries")
5 Ideal and normal monsoon rains
6 Theories for mechanism of monsoon
6.1 Traditional theory
6.1.1 Process of monsoon creation
6.2 Dynamic theory
6.2.1 Process of monsoon creation
6.3 Jet stream theory
6.3.1 Process of monsoon creation
7 Theories for "bursting"
7.1 Dynamic theory
7.2 Jet stream theory
8 Theories for monsoon variability
8.1 The jet stream effect
8.2 El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect
8.3 Indian Ocean dipole effect
8.3.1 Equatorial Indian Ocean oscillation
9 Impact of climate change on the monsoon
10 Monsoon rain prediction models
10.1 Seasonal Prediction of Indian Monsoon (SPIM)
10.2 Indian Meteorological Department model
11 Significance
11.1 Geographical (wettest spots on Earth)
11.2 Agricultural
11.3 Economic
11.4 Social
11.5 Travel
11.6 Environmental
12 See also
13 Notes
14 References
15 External links
Definition[edit]
The word monsoon (derived from the Arabic "mausam," meaning "season"), although generally defined as a system of winds characterized by a seasonal reversal of direction,[6] lacks a consistent, detailed definition. Some examples are:
The American Meteorological Society calls it a name for seasonal winds, first applied to the winds blowing over the Arabian Sea from the northeast for six months and from the southwest for six months.[6] The term has since been extended to similar winds in other parts of the world.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes a monsoon as a tropical and subtropical seasonal reversal in both surface winds and associated precipitation, caused by differential heating between a continental-scale land mass and the adjacent ocean.[7]
The Indian Meteorological Department defines it as the seasonal reversal of the direction of winds along the shores of the Indian Ocean, especially in the Arabian Sea, which blow from the southwest for half of the year and from the northeast for the other half.[8]
Colin Stokes Ramage, in Monsoon Meteorology, defines the monsoon as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation.[9]
Background[edit]
Observed initially by sailors in the Arabian Sea[10] traveling between Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, the monsoon can be categorized into two branches based on their spread over the subcontinent:
Arabian Sea branch
Bay of Bengal branch
Southwest monsoon clouds over Tamil Nadu.
Alternatively, it can be categorized into two segments based on the direction of rain-bearing winds:
Southwest (SW) monsoon
Northeast (NE) monsoon[Note 1]
Based on the time of year that these winds bring rain to India, the monsoon can also be categorized into two periods:
Summer monsoon (May to September)
Winter monsoon (October to November)
The complexity of the monsoon of South Asia is not completely understood, making it difficult to accurately predict the quantity, timing, and geographic distribution of the accompanying precipitation. These are the most monitored components of the monsoon, and they determine the water availability in India for any given year.[11]
Mechanism of the monsoon[edit]
Main article: Monsoon § South Asian Monsoon
Monsoon over India
Monsoons typically occur in tropical areas.[12] One area that monsoons impact greatly is India.[12] In India monsoons create an entire season in which the winds reverse completely.[12]
Various atmospheric conditions influence the monsoon winds. The first condition is the differential heating and cooling of land and water. This creates low pressure on the landmass, while high pressure is created over the seas around during daytime, but is reversed during the nighttime.
The second condition is the shift in the position of Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). In summer, the equatorial trough normally positioned about 5°N of the equator moves over the Ganga plain creating a monsoon trough during the monsoon season.
The third condition is the presence of the high-pressure area that develops east of Madagascar. It is approximately at 20°S over the Indian Ocean. The intensity and position of this high-pressure area affects the Indian Monsoon.
The fourth condition develops during the summer. The Tibetan Plateau gets intensely heated resulting in strong vertical air currents and high pressure over the plateau about 9 km above sea level. The fifth condition develops during the summer due to the movement of the westerly jet streams to the north of the Himalayas and the presence of the tropical easterly jet stream over the Indian Peninsula.
Changes in pressure over the southern oceans also affect the monsoons. In certain years, there is a reversal in the pressure conditions. This periodic change in pressure conditions is known as the Southern Oscillation, or SO.
The Southern Oscillation is connected to El Nino, which is a warm ocean current that flows past the Peruvian Coast. It flows every two to five years in place of the cold Peruvian current. The phenomenon is, referred to as ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillations). In India, the monsoon lasts for 100 to 120 days from early June and to mid-September. The monsoon winds encounter various atmospheric conditions on their way and hence are pulsating in nature, and not steady.
The monsoon arrives with a sudden downpour of rainfall that continues for several days. This is known as the ‘burst’ of the monsoon.
The rainfall is a result of the convergence of wind flow from the Bay of Bengal and reverse winds from the South China Sea.[13]
The onset of the monsoon occurs over the Bay of Bengal in May,[13] arriving at the Indian Peninsula by June,[12] and then the winds move towards the South China Sea.[13] By early September, the monsoon starts to withdraw or retreat and is a more gradual process. By mid-October, it withdraws completely from the northern half of the peninsula. The withdrawal takes place progressively from north to south from the first week of December to the first week of January. This is the start of the winter season.
The retreating monsoon winds move over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and collect moisture on the way. These monsoon winds reach the southern states of India by October, and are responsible for a second round of rainfall. These are called the winter monsoons. The winter monsoon is experienced in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh in the first week of January.
Effect of geographical relief features[edit]
Although the southwest and northeast monsoon winds are seasonally reversible, they do not cause precipitation on their own.
Main article: Rain § Formation
Two factors are essential for rain formation:
Moisture-laden winds
Droplet formation
Additionally, one of the causes of rain must happen. In the case of the monsoon, the cause is primarily orographic, due to the presence of highlands in the path of the winds. Orographic barriers force wind to rise. Precipitation then occurs on the windward side of the highlands because of adiabatic cooling and condensation of the moist rising air.
Main article: Orographic lift
The unique geographic relief features of the Indian subcontinent come into play in allowing all of the above factors to occur simultaneously. The relevant features in explaining the monsoon mechanism are as follows:
The presence of abundant water bodies around the subcontinent: the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean. These help moisture accumulate in the winds during the hot season.
The presence of abundant highlands like the Western Ghats and the Himalayas right across the path of the southwest monsoon winds. These are the main cause of the substantial orographic precipitation throughout the subcontinent.[Note 2]
The Western Ghats are the first highlands of India that the southwest monsoon winds encounter.[Note 3] The Western Ghats rise abruptly from the Western Coastal Plains of the subcontinent, making effective orographic barriers for the monsoon winds.
The Himalayas play more than the role of orographic barriers for the monsoon. They also help confine it to the subcontinent. Without them, the southwest monsoon winds would blow right over the Indian subcontinent into Tibet, Afghanistan, and Russia without causing any rain.[Note 4]
For the northeast monsoon, the highlands of the Eastern Ghats play the role of orographic barrier.
Pink arrow: Southwest monsoon wind direction; green arrow: northeast monsoon wind direction.
Orographic precipitation.
Geographical features of the Indian subcontinent.
Daytime scene showing the pre-monsoon air over India.
Recent trends in average annual precipitation from monsoons.
Features of monsoon rains[edit]
There are some unique features of the rains that the monsoon brings to the Indian subcontinent.
"Bursting"[edit]
"Monsoon burst" over Mumbai.
Bursting of monsoon refers to the sudden change in weather conditions in India (typically from hot and dry weather to wet and humid weather during the southwest monsoon), characterized by an abrupt rise in the mean daily rainfall.[14][15] Similarly, the burst of the northeast monsoon refers to an abrupt increase in the mean daily rainfall over the affected regions.[16]
Rain variability ("vagaries")[edit]
One of the most commonly used words to describe the erratic nature of the monsoon is "vagaries," used in newspapers,[17] magazines,[18] books,[19] web portals[20] to insurance plans,[21] and India's budget discussions.[22] In some years, it rains too much, causing floods in parts of India; in others, it rains too little or not at all, causing droughts. In some years, the rain quantity is sufficient but its timing arbitrary. Sometimes, despite average annual rainfall, the daily distribution or geographic distribution of the rain is substantially skewed. In the recent past, rainfall variability in short time periods (about a week) were attributed to desert dust over the Arabian Sea and Western Asia.[23]
Ideal and normal monsoon rains[edit]
Annual average rainfall in India.
Normally, the southwest monsoon can be expected to "burst" onto the western coast of India (near Thiruvananthapuram) at the beginning of June and to cover the entire country by mid-July.[11][24][25] Its withdrawal from India typically starts at the beginning of September and finishes by the beginning of October.[26][27]
The northeast monsoon usually "bursts" around 20 October and lasts for about 50 days before withdrawing.[16]
However, a rainy monsoon is not necessarily a normal monsoon — that is, one that performs close to statistical averages calculated over a long period. A normal monsoon is generally accepted to be one involving close to the average quantity of precipitation over all the geographical locations under its influence (mean spatial distribution) and over the entire expected time period (mean temporal distribution). Additionally, the arrival date and the departure date of both the southwest and northeast monsoon should be close to the mean dates. The exact criteria for a normal monsoon are defined by the Indian Meteorological Department with calculations for the mean and standard deviation of each of these variables.[28]
A monsoon with excess rain can cause floods, and one with too little rain can lead to widespread drought, famine, and economic losses. Therefore, a normal monsoon with mean performance is the most desirable monsoon.
Theories for mechanism of monsoon[edit]
Theories of the mechanism of the monsoon primarily try to explain the reasons for the seasonal reversal of winds and the timing of their reversal.
Traditional theory[edit]
Main article: Sea breeze
Because of differences in the specific heat capacity of land and water, continents heat up faster than seas. Consequently, the air above coastal lands heats up faster than the air above seas. This creates areas of low air pressure above coastal lands compared with pressure over the seas, causing winds to flow from the seas onto the neighboring lands. This is known as sea breeze.
Process of monsoon creation[edit]
Main article: Monsoon § Process
A: sea breeze; B: land breeze.
Also known as the thermal theory or the differential heating of sea and land theory, the traditional theory portrays the monsoon as a large-scale sea breeze. It states that during the hot subtropical summers, the massive landmass of the Indian Peninsula heats up at a different rate than the surrounding seas, resulting in a pressure gradient from south to north. This causes the flow of moisture-laden winds from sea to land. On reaching land, these winds rise because of the geographical relief, cooling adiabatically and leading to orographic rains. This is the southwest monsoon. The reverse happens during the winter, when the land is colder than the sea, establishing a pressure gradient from land to sea. This causes the winds to blow over the Indian subcontinent toward the Indian Ocean in a northeasterly direction, causing the northeast monsoon. Because the southwest monsoon flows from sea to land, it carries more moisture, and therefore causes more rain, than the northeast monsoon. Only part of the northeast monsoon passing over the Bay of Bengal picks up moisture, causing rain in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu during the winter months.
However, many meteorologists argue that the monsoon is not a local phenomenon as explained by the traditional theory, but a general weather phenomenon along the entire tropical zone of Earth. This criticism does not deny the role of differential heating of sea and land in generating monsoon winds, but casts it as one of several factors rather than the only one.
Dynamic theory[edit]
The atmospheric circulation system with associated pressure belts and latitudes.
Main article: Prevailing winds
Main article: Atmospheric circulation
The prevailing winds of the atmospheric circulation arise because of the difference in pressure at various latitudes and act as means for distribution of thermal energy on the planet. This pressure difference is because of the differences in solar insolation received at different latitudes and the resulting uneven heating of the planet. Alternating belts of high pressure and low pressure develop along the equator, the two tropics, the Arctic and Antarctic circles, and the two polar regions, giving rise to the trade winds, the westerlies, and the polar easterlies. However, geophysical factors like Earth's orbit, its rotation, and its axial tilt cause these belts to shift gradually north and south, following the Sun's seasonal shifts.
Process of monsoon creation[edit]
The dynamic theory explains the monsoon on the basis of the annual shifts in the position of global belts of pressure and winds. According to this theory, the monsoon is a result of the shift of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) under the influence of the vertical sun. Though the mean position of the ITCZ is taken as the equator, it shifts north and south with the migration of the vertical sun toward the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn during the summer of the respective hemispheres (Northern and Southern Hemisphere). As such, during the northern summer (May and June), the ITCZ moves north, along with the vertical sun, toward the Tropic of Cancer. The ITCZ, as the zone of lowest pressure in the tropical region, is the target destination for the trade winds of both hemispheres. Consequently, with the ITCZ at the Tropic of Cancer, the southeast trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere have to cross the equator to reach it.[Note 5] However, because of the Coriolis effect (which causes winds in the Northern Hemisphere to turn right, whereas winds in the Southern Hemisphere turn left), these southeast trade winds are deflected east in the Northern Hemisphere, transforming into southwest trades.[Note 6] These pick up moisture while traveling from sea to land and cause orographic rain once they hit the highlands of the Indian Peninsula. This results in the southwest monsoon.
The dynamic theory explains the monsoon as a global weather phenomenon rather than just a local one. And when coupled with the traditional theory (based on the heating of sea and land), it enhances the explanation of the varying intensity of monsoon precipitation along the coastal regions with orographic barriers.
Jet stream theory[edit]
Main article: Jet stream
Jet streams of Earth
This theory tries to explain the establishment of the northeast and southwest monsoons, as well as unique features like "bursting" and variability.
The jet streams are systems of upper-air westerlies. They give rise to slowly moving upper-air waves, with 250-knot winds in some air streams. First observed by World War II pilots, they develop just below the tropopause over areas of steep pressure gradient on the surface. The main types are the polar jets, the subtropical westerly jets, and the less common tropical easterly jets. They follow the principle of geostrophic winds.[Note 7]
Process of monsoon creation[edit]
The Tibetan Plateau lies north of the Himalayas.
Over India, a subtropical westerly jet develops in the winter season and is replaced by the tropical easterly jet in the summer season. The high temperature during the summer over the Tibetan Plateau, as well as over Central Asia in general, is believed to be the critical factor leading to the formation of the tropical easterly jet over India.
The mechanism affecting the monsoon is that the westerly jet causes high pressure over northern parts of the subcontinent during the winter. This results in the north-to-south flow of the winds in the form of the northeast monsoon. With the northward shift of the vertical sun, this jet shifts north, too. The intense heat over the Tibetan Plateau, coupled with associated terrain features like the high altitude of the plateau, generate the tropical easterly jet over central India. This jet creates a low-pressure zone over the northern Indian plains, influencing the wind flow toward these plains and assisting the development of the southwest monsoon[clarification needed].
Theories for "bursting"[edit]
The "bursting"[14] of the monsoon is primarily explained by the jet stream theory and the dynamic theory.
Dynamic theory[edit]
According to this theory, during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, the ITCZ shifts north, pulling the southwest monsoon winds onto the land from the sea. However, the huge landmass of the Himalayas restricts the low-pressure zone onto the Himalayas themselves. It is only when the Tibetan Plateau heats up significantly more than the Himalayas that the ITCZ abruptly and swiftly shifts north, leading to the bursting of monsoon rains over the Indian subcontinent. The reverse shift takes place for the northeast monsoon winds, leading to a second, minor burst of rainfall over the eastern Indian Peninsula during the Northern Hemisphere winter months.
Jet stream theory[edit]
According to this theory, the onset of the southwest monsoon is driven by the shift of the subtropical westerly jet north from over the plains of India toward the Tibetan Plateau. This shift is due to the intense heating of the plateau during the summer months. The northward shift is not a slow and gradual process, as expected for most changes in weather pattern. The primary cause is believed to be the height of the Himalayas. As the Tibetan Plateau heats up, the low pressure created over it pulls the westerly jet north. Because of the lofty Himalayas, the westerly jet's movement is inhibited. But with continuous dropping pressure, sufficient force is created for the movement of the westerly jet across the Himalayas after a significant period. As such, the shift of the jet is sudden and abrupt, causing the bursting of southwest monsoon rains onto the Indian plains. The reverse shift happens for the northeast monsoon.
Theories for monsoon variability[edit]
The jet stream effect[edit]
The jet stream theory also explains the variability in timing and strength of the monsoon.
Timing: A timely northward shift of the subtropical westerly jet at the beginning of summer is critical to the onset of the southwest monsoon over India. If the shift is delayed, so is the southwest monsoon. An early shift results in an early monsoon.
Strength: The strength of the southwest monsoon is determined by the strength of the easterly tropical jet over central India. A strong easterly tropical jet results in a strong southwest monsoon over central India, and a weak jet results in a weak monsoon.
El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect[edit]
Main article: El Niño-Southern Oscillation
Effects of El Niño on the weather of the subcontinent.
El Niño is a warm ocean current originating along the coast of Peru that replaces the usual cold Humboldt Current. The warm surface water moving toward the coast of Peru with El Niño is pushed west by the trade winds, thereby raising the temperature of the southern Pacific Ocean. The reverse condition is known as La Niña.
Southern oscillation, a phenomenon first observed by Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker, director general of observatories in India, refers to the seesaw relationship of atmospheric pressures between Tahiti and Darwin, Australia.[29] Walker noticed that when pressure was high in Tahiti, it was low in Darwin, and vice versa.[29] A Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), based on the pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin, has been formulated by the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia) to measure the strength of the oscillation.[30] Walker noticed that the quantity of rainfall in the Indian subcontinent was often negligible in years of high pressure over Darwin (and low pressure over Tahiti). Conversely, low pressure over Darwin bodes well for precipitation quantity in India. Thus, Walker established the relationship between southern oscillation and quantities of monsoon rains in India.[29]
Ultimately, the southern oscillation was found to be simply an atmospheric component of the El Niño/La Niña effect, which happens in the ocean.[29] Therefore, in the context of the monsoon, the two together came to be known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) effect. The effect is known to have a pronounced influence on the strength of the southwest monsoon over India, with the monsoon being weak (causing droughts) during El Niño years, while La Niña years bring particularly strong monsoons.[29]
Indian Ocean dipole effect[edit]
Main article: Indian Ocean Dipole
Although the ENSO effect was statistically effective in explaining several past droughts in India, in recent decades, its relationship with the Indian monsoon seemed to weaken.[31] For example, the strong ENSO of 1997 did not cause drought in India.[29] However, it was later discovered that, just like ENSO in the Pacific Ocean, a similar seesaw ocean-atmosphere system in the Indian Ocean was also in play. This system was discovered in 1999 and named the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). An index to calculate it was also formulated. IOD develops in the equatorial region of the Indian Ocean from April to May and peaks in October.[29] With a positive IOD, winds over the Indian Ocean blow from east to west. This makes the Arabian Sea (the western Indian Ocean near the African coast) much warmer and the eastern Indian Ocean around Indonesia colder and drier.[29] In negative dipole years, the reverse happens, making Indonesia much warmer and rainier.
A positive IOD index often negates the effect of ENSO, resulting in increased monsoon rains in years such as 1983, 1994, and 1997.[29] Further, the two poles of the IOD — the eastern pole (around Indonesia) and the western pole (off the African coast) — independently and cumulatively affect the quantity of monsoon rains.[29]
Equatorial Indian Ocean oscillation[edit]
As with ENSO, the atmospheric component of the IOD was later discovered and the cumulative phenomenon named Equatorial Indian Ocean oscillation (EQUINOO).[29] When EQUINOO effects are factored in, certain failed forecasts, like the acute drought of 2002, can be further accounted for.[29] The relationship between extremes of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, along with ENSO and EQUINOO,[32] have been studied, and models to better predict the quantity of monsoon rains have been statistically derived.[32]
Impact of climate change on the monsoon[edit]
Since 1950s, the South Asian summer monsoon underwent a gradual decline, with a reduction of up to 10% over central India.[33] This is primarily due to a weakening monsoon circulation as a result of the rapid warming in the Indian Ocean[34][35], and changes in land use and land cover[36]. Since the strength of the monsoon is partially dependent on the temperature difference between the ocean and the land, higher ocean temperatures in the Indian Ocean have weakened the moisture bearing winds from the ocean to the land. The reduction in the summer monsoon rainfall have grave consequences over central India because at least 60% of the agriculture in this region is still largely rain-fed.
A recent assessment of the monsoonal changes indicate that the land warming has increased during 2002-2014, possibly reviving the strength of the monsoon circulation and rainfall[37]. Future changes in the monsoon will depend on a competition between land and ocean—on which is warming faster than the other.
Meanwhile, there has been a three-fold rise in widespread extreme rainfall events during the years 1950 to 2015, over the entire central belt of India, leading to a steady rise in the number of flash floods with significant socioeconomic losses[38][39]. Widespread extreme rainfall events are those rainfall events which are larger than 150 mm/day and spread over a region large enough to cause floods.
Monsoon rain prediction models[edit]
Since the Great Famine of 1876–78 in India, various attempts have been made to predict monsoon rainfall.[40] At least five prediction models exist.[41]
Seasonal Prediction of Indian Monsoon (SPIM)[edit]
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) at Bengaluru facilitated the Seasonal Prediction of Indian Monsoon (SPIM) experiment on the PARAM Padma supercomputing system.[42] This project involved simulated runs of historical data from 1985 to 2004 to try to establish the relationship of five atmospheric general circulation models with monsoon rainfall distribution.[41]
Indian Meteorological Department model[edit]
The department has tried to forecast the monsoon for India since 1884,[40] and is the only official agency entrusted with making public forecasts about the quantity, distribution, and timing of the monsoon rains. Its position as the sole authority on the monsoon was cemented in 2005[41] by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi. In 2003, IMD substantially changed its forecast methodology, model,[43] and administration.[44] A sixteen-parameter monsoon forecasting model used since 1988 was replaced in 2003.[43] However, following the 2009 drought in India (worst since 1972),[45] The department decided in 2010 that it needed to develop an "indigenous model"[46] to further improve its prediction capabilities.
Significance[edit]
Western Ghats,Maharashtra on 28 May in dry season
Western Ghats,Maharashtra on 28 August in rainy season
The monsoon is the primary delivery mechanism for fresh water in the Indian subcontinent. As such, it affects the environment (and associated flora, fauna, and ecosystems), agriculture, society, hydro-power production, and geography of the subcontinent (like the availability of fresh water in water bodies and the underground water table), with all of these factors cumulatively contributing to the health of the economy of affected countries.
The monsoon turns large parts of India from semi-deserts into green grasslands. See photos taken only three months apart in the Western Ghats.
Geographical (wettest spots on Earth)[edit]
Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, both in the Indian state of Meghalaya, alternate as the wettest places on Earth given the quantity of their rainfall,[47] though there are other cities with similar claims. They receive more than 11,000 millimeters of rain each from the monsoon.
Agricultural[edit]
In India, which has historically had a primarily agrarian economy, the services sector recently overtook the farm sector in terms of GDP contribution. However, the agriculture sector still contributes 17-20% of GDP[48] and is the largest employer in the country, with about 60% of Indians dependent on it for employment and livelihood.[48] About 49% of India's land is agricultural; that number rises to 55% if associated wetlands, dryland farming areas, etc., are included. Because more than half of these farmlands are rain-fed, the monsoon is critical to food sufficiency and quality of life.
Despite progress in alternative forms of irrigation, agricultural dependence on the monsoon remains far from insignificant. Therefore, the agricultural calendar of India is governed by the monsoon. Any fluctuations in the time distribution, spatial distribution, or quantity of the monsoon rains may lead to floods or droughts, causing the agricultural sector to suffer. This has a cascading effect on the secondary economic sectors, the overall economy, food inflation, and therefore the general population's quality and cost of living.
Economic[edit]
The economic significance of the monsoon is aptly described by Pranab Mukherjee's remark that the monsoon is the "real finance minister of India".[4][5] A good monsoon results in better agricultural yields, which brings down prices of essential food commodities and reduces imports, thus reducing food inflation overall.[48] Better rains also result in increased hydroelectric production.[48] All of these factors have positive ripple effects throughout the economy of India.[48]
The down side however is that when monsoon rains are weak, crop production is low leading to higher food prices with limited supply.[49] As a result, the Indian government is actively working with farmers and the nation's meteorological department to produce more drought resistant crops.[49]
Social[edit]
D. Subbarao, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, emphasized during a quarterly review of India's monetary policy that the lives of Indians depend on the performance of the monsoon.[50] His own career prospects, his emotional well-being, and the performance of his monetary policy are all "a hostage" to the monsoon, he said, as is the case for most Indians.[50] Additionally, farmers rendered jobless by failed monsoon rains tend to migrate to cities. This crowds city slums and aggravates the infrastructure and sustainability of city life.[51]
Travel[edit]
In the past, Indians usually refrained from traveling during monsoons for practical as well as religious reasons. But with the advent of globalization, such travel is gaining popularity. Places like Kerala and the Western Ghats get a large number of tourists, both local and foreigners, during the monsoon season. Kerala is one of the top destinations for tourists interested in Ayurvedic treatments and massage therapy. One major drawback of traveling during the monsoon is that most wildlife sanctuaries are closed. Also, some mountainous areas, especially in Himalayan regions, get cut off when roads are damaged by landslides and floods during heavy rains.[52]
Environmental[edit]
The monsoon is the primary bearer of fresh water to the area. The peninsular/Deccan rivers of India are mostly rain-fed and non-perennial in nature, depending primarily on the monsoon for water supply.[53] Most of the coastal rivers of Western India are also rain-fed and monsoon-dependent.[53][54] As such, the flora, fauna, and entire ecosystems of these areas rely heavily on the monsoon.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
Weather portal
India portal
East Asian Monsoon
Monsoon (photographs) of India, 1960
Climate of India (section Monsoon)
Asian brown cloud
Tropical monsoon climate (section Factors)
Tibetan Plateau (section Role in monsoons)
Himalayas (section Impact on climate)
Indian Meteorological Department
Drought in India
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ The name of the wind is based on the direction that it blows from. Southwest winds blow onto the land from the southwest. Northeast winds flow from the northeast toward the southwest, onto the land.
Jump up ^ The Aravalli Mountains also lie in the path of the southwest monsoon but do not result in much precipitation because they are in the direction of the path of the southwest winds and not across them, causing no orographic lift of the winds.
Jump up ^ Other major highlands, like the Cardamom Hills, Anaimalai Hills, and Nilgiri Mountains, that play active roles in the monsoon are considered major extensions of the Western Ghats and are thus not discussed separately.
Jump up ^ First, the Himalayas serve as orographic barriers to the southwest monsoon winds. Second, they help confine the winds to the subcontinent, hampering their northward progress. Third, they contribute to the convergence of the Bay of Bengal branch and Arabian Sea branch of the southwest monsoon winds, increasing the intensity of precipitation over the northern part of the subcontinent. Fourth, they are a major factor in the bursting of the monsoon under the jet stream theory. Fifth, they help determine the direction of the Bay of Bengal branch of the northeast monsoon. Their role is still a matter of active study, and understanding of them is evolving regularly.
Jump up ^ When the southeast trade winds cross the equator, they are perceived in the Northern Hemisphere as equatorial westerlies because they seem to blow from the equator toward the Tropic Of Cancer. Similarly, when the ITCZ is at the Tropic of Cancer, the northeast trade winds are confined to the area north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Jump up ^ Change of direction or origin of winds alters their nomenclature as noted above.
Jump up ^ Geostrophic winds blow parallel to the isobars and keep low-pressure zones to their left in the Northern Hemisphere and to their right in the Southern Hemisphere. The reversal is a result of the Coriolis effect.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ India Meteorological Department, Monsoon data 1901-2010 Archived 24 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine., Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India
Jump up ^ Pal et al., Districtwise Drought Climatology Of The Southwest Monsoon Season over India Based on Standardized Precipitation Index Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. National Climate Centre, Research Report No: 2/2010, India Meteorological Department Pune, Govt of India
Jump up ^ Alexander Frater (1 May 2005). Chasing the Monsoon. Picador. ISBN 978-0-330-43313-6. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b News Service, Indo-Asian (31 May 2010). "India cheers as monsoon arrives; hopes of better farm output raised". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b IANS (1 June 2010). "India cheers as monsoon arrives in Kerala". Retrieved 2 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b Glossary of Meteorology (June 2000). "Monsoon". American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
Jump up ^ "IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007, Glossary". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "IMD terminologies & glossary". Indian Meteorological Department. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Colin S. Ramage (1971). Monsoon meteorology. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-576650-0. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Helaine Selin, ed. (1997). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures. Springer. pp. 766–. ISBN 978-0-7923-4066-9. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b "Indian Meteorological Department". imd.gov.in. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Class 9 CBSE Geography Climate The Mechanism of Monsoons - Wiki". www.learnnext.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
^ Jump up to: a b c Zhang, Zuqiang; Chan, Johnny C. L.; Ding, Yihui (2004-10-01). "Characteristics, evolution and mechanisms of the summer monsoon onset over Southeast Asia". International Journal of Climatology. 24 (12): 1461–1482. Bibcode:2004IJCli..24.1461Z. doi:10.1002/joc.1082. ISSN 1097-0088.
^ Jump up to: a b Michael Allaby (2002). Encyclopedia of weather and climate. Infobase Publishing. pp. 373–. ISBN 978-0-8160-4801-4. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ M. Hanif (1 January 2005). Encyclopaedia of Agricultural Geography. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. pp. 163–. ISBN 978-81-261-2482-4. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b Bin Wang (2006). The Asian monsoon. Springer. pp. 188–. ISBN 978-3-540-40610-5. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Kasabe, Nanda Dabhole (23 July 1997). "Vagaries apart, monsoon is normal". the Indian Express. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Pratiyogita Darpan (October 2007). Pratiyogita Darpan. Pratiyogita Darpan. pp. 93–. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Krishnamacharyulu (1 September 2003). Cases In Rural Marketing: An Integrated Approach. Pearson Education India. pp. 106–. ISBN 978-81-317-0188-1. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Agronomic Measures in Dryland Agriculture: An Overview". India Water Portal. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Weather Insurance To Protect A Few". Financial Express. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Budget must focus on Growth, Food Inflation, FDI, Govt B/s: G Chokkalingam". myIris.com. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Vinoj, V.; Rasch, Philip J.; Wang, Hailong; Yoon, Jin-Ho; Ma, Po-Lun; Landu, Kiranmayi; Singh, Balwinder. "Short-term modulation of Indian summer monsoon rainfall by West Asian dust". Nature Geoscience. 7 (4): 308–313. doi:10.1038/ngeo2107. Retrieved 20 April 2018. More than one of |website= and |journal= specified (help)
Jump up ^ "SW Monsoon Normal Onset Dates". Indian Meteorological Department. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Monsoon Onset dates on Map of India". Indian Meteorological Department. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "SW Monsoon Normal Withdrawal Dates". Indian Meteorological Department. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Monsoon withdrawal dates on Map of India". Indian Meteorological Department. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Met. Terminologies and Glossary - Monsoon". Indian Meteorological Department. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Gopal Raj, N (4 May 2004). "El Nino & the Indian Ocean Dipole". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Climate glossary - Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)". Bureau of Meteorology (Australia). 3 April 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Kumar, K. K.; Balaji Rajagopalan; Mark A. Cane (25 June 1999). "On the Weakening Relationship Between the Indian Monsoon and ENSO". Science. 284 (5423): 2156–2159. doi:10.1126/science.284.5423.2156. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b Gadgil, Sulochana; P. N. Vinayachandran; P. A. Francis (1 January 2004). "Extremes of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, ENSO and equatorial Indian Ocean oscillation". Geophysical Research Letters. 31 (12). Bibcode:2004GeoRL..3112213G. doi:10.1029/2004GL019733. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Roxy, Mathew Koll; Ritika, Kapoor; Terray, Pascal; Murtugudde, Raghu; Ashok, Karumuri; Goswami, B. N. (2015-06-16). "Drying of Indian subcontinent by rapid Indian Ocean warming and a weakening land-sea thermal gradient". Nature Communications. 6: 7423. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6E7423R. doi:10.1038/ncomms8423. PMID 26077934.
Jump up ^ Roxy, Mathew Koll; Ritika, Kapoor; Terray, Pascal; Masson, Sébastien (2014-09-11). "The Curious Case of Indian Ocean Warming". Journal of Climate. 27 (22): 8501–8509. Bibcode:2014JCli...27.8501R. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00471.1. ISSN 0894-8755.
Jump up ^ "Warming Indian Ocean, weakening monsoon". India Climate Dialogue. 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
Jump up ^ Paul, Supantha; Ghosh, Subimal; Oglesby, Robert; Pathak, Amey; Chandrasekharan, Anita; Ramsankaran, RAAJ (2016-08-24). "Weakening of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall due to Changes in Land Use Land Cover". Scientific Reports. 6 (1). Bibcode:2016NatSR...632177P. doi:10.1038/srep32177. ISSN 2045-2322.
Jump up ^ Roxy, Mathew Koll. "Land warming revives monsoon". Nature Climate Change. 7 (8): 549–550. Bibcode:2017NatCC...7..549R. doi:10.1038/nclimate3356.
Jump up ^ Roxy, M. K.; Ghosh, Subimal; Pathak, Amey; Athulya, R.; Mujumdar, Milind; Murtugudde, Raghu; Terray, Pascal; Rajeevan, M. (2017-10-03). "A threefold rise in widespread extreme rain events over central India". Nature Communications. 8 (1). Bibcode:2017NatCo...8..708R. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00744-9. ISSN 2041-1723.
Jump up ^ Simpkins, Graham (2017-11-02). "Hydroclimate: Extreme rain in India". Nature Climate Change. 7 (11): 760–760. Bibcode:2017NatCC...7..760S. doi:10.1038/nclimate3429. ISSN 1758-6798.
^ Jump up to: a b "Introduction". Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c Gadgil, Sulochana; J. Srinivasan (10 February 2011). "Seasonal prediction of the Indian monsoon" (PDF). Current Science. 3. 100: 343–353. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Seasonal Prediction of Indian Monsoon(SPIM)". Centre for Development of Advanced Computing. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b Rajeevapn, M.; D. S. Pai; S. K. Dikshit; R. R. Kelkar (10 February 2004). "IMD's new operational models for long-range forecast of southwest monsoon rainfall over India and their verification for 2003" (PDF). Current Science. 3. 86: 422–431. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Jump up ^ BAGLA, PALLAVA (28 April 2003). "Man behind old monsoon model goes out quietly". Express India. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Jump up ^ AFP (30 September 2009). "'Drought in India worst since 1972'". Times of India. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "India needs indigenous monsoon model for better prediction, says IMD chief". ExpressIndia. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Jump up ^ Philip, A J (24 August 2003). "Cherrapunji no longer wettest Challenge comes from nearby village". The Tribune. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "How monsoon impacts the Indian economy". Rediff.com. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b "Monsoon affects economy, health in India". WORLD MONSOONS. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
^ Jump up to: a b IANS (27 July 2010). "All Indians 'chasing the monsoon'". Thaindia.com. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
Jump up ^ MITRA, SUBHANKAR (29 August 2009). "The monsoon effect". IndianExpress. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Traveling in India during monsoons".
^ Jump up to: a b "Rivers-Profile-Know India". India.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2011-02-04. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
Jump up ^ "Indian Geography". IndiaBook.com. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
External links[edit]
Find more aboutMonsoonat Wikipedia's sister projects
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monsoon in Bangladesh.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monsoon in India.
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Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
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Carpenter ant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Carpenter ant
Temporal range: Eocene – Recent 52.2–0 Ma
PreЄ
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Camponotus sp. (worker)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Euarthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Mayr, 1861
Type species
Formica ligniperda
Latreille, 1802
Diversity
> 1,000 species
Synonyms[1]
Condylomyrma Santschi, 1928
Dolophra Wu, J. & Wang, 1994
Myrmocamelus Forel, 1914
Myrmolophus Emery, 1920
Myrmosaga Forel, 1912
Myrmoturba Forel, 1912
Neocolobopsis Borgmeier, 1928
Neomyrmamblys Wheeler, W.M., 1921
Orthonotus Ashmead, 1905
Paleosminthurus Pierce & Gibron, 1962
Paracolobopsis Emery, 1920
Shanwangella Zhang, J., 1989
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) are large (0.3 to 1.0 in or 0.76 to 2.54 cm) ants indigenous to many forested parts of the world.[2]
They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their mandibles, preferably in dead, damp wood. They do not consume the wood, however, unlike termites.[3] Sometimes, carpenter ants hollow out sections of trees. They also commonly infest wooden buildings and structures, and are a widespread nuisance and major cause of structural damage. However, their ability to excavate wood helps in forest decomposition. One of the most familiar species associated with human habitation in the United States is the black carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus). The genus includes over 1,000 species.[4]
Contents
[hide]
1 Habitat
1.1 Food
1.2 Symbionts
2 Behavior and ecology
2.1 Nesting
2.1.1 Nuptial flight
2.2 Relatedness
2.3 Kin recognition
2.4 Kin altruism
2.5 Pheromones
2.6 Social immunity
2.7 Oligogyny
3 Exploding ants
4 Selected species
5 Relationship with humans
5.1 As pests
5.2 As food
6 References
6.1 Cited texts
7 Further reading
8 External links
Habitat[edit]
Carpenter ant cleaning antennae
Carpenter ant species reside both outdoors and indoors in moist, decaying, or hollow wood, most commonly in forest environments. They cut "galleries" into the wood grain to provide passageways for movement from section to section of the nest. Certain parts of a house, such as around and under windows, roof eaves, decks and porches, are more likely to be infested by carpenter ants because these areas are most vulnerable to moisture.[citation needed]
Carpenter ants carrying a dead bee
Carpenter ants have been known to construct extensive underground tunneling systems. These systems often lead to an end at some food source – often aphid colonies, where the ants extract and feed on honeydew. These tunneling systems also often exist in trees. The colonies typically include a central "parent" colony surrounded and supplemented by smaller satellite colonies.[5]
Food[edit]
A major worker of Camponotus sp.
Carpenter ants are considered both predators and scavengers. These ants are foragers that typically eat parts of other dead insects or substances derived from other insects. Common foods for them include insect parts, "honeydew" produced by aphids, or extrafloral nectar from plants. They are also known for eating other sugary liquids such as honey, syrup, or juices. Carpenter ants can increase the survivability of aphids when they tend them. They tend many aphid species but can also express preference for specific ones.[citation needed]
Most species of carpenter ants forage at night. When foraging, they usually collect and consume dead insects. Some species less commonly collect live insects. When they discover a dead insect, workers surround it and extract its bodily fluids to be carried back to the nest. The remaining chitin-based shell is left behind. Occasionally, the ants bring the chitinous head of the insect back to the nest, where they also extract its inner tissue.[6] The ants can forage individually or in small or large groups, though they often opt to do so individually. Different colonies in close proximity may have overlapping foraging regions, though they typically do not assist each other in foraging. Their main food sources normally include proteins and carbohydrates.[7] Instances of carpenter ants bleeding Chinese elm trees for the sap have been observed in the northern Arizona region. These instances may be rare as the colonies vastly exceeded the standard size of carpenter ant colonies else where. [8] When workers find food sources, they communicate this information to the rest of the nest. They use biochemical pheromones to mark the shortest path that can be taken from the nest to the source. When a sizable number of workers follows this trail, the strength of the cue increases and a foraging trail is established. This ends when the food source is depleted. The workers will then feed the queen and the larvae by consuming the food they have found, and regurgitating the food at the nest. Foraging trails can either be under or above ground.[9]
Although carpenter ants do not tend to be extremely aggressive, they have developed mechanisms to maximize their provision from a food source when that same food source is visited by a competing organism. This is accomplished in different ways. Sometimes they colonize an area near a relatively static food supply. More often, they develop a systemic way to visit the food source with alternating trips by different individual ants or groups. This allows them to decrease the gains of intruders because the intruders tend to visit in a scattered, random, and unorganized manner. The ants, however, visit the sources systematically such that they lower the mean standing crop. They tend to visit more resource-dense food areas in an attempt to minimize resource availability for others. That is, the more systematic the foraging behavior of the ants, the more random that of its competitors.[10]
Contrary to popular belief, carpenter ants do not actually eat wood because they are unable to digest cellulose. They only create tunnels and nests within it.[11]
Symbionts[edit]
All ants in this genus, and some related genera, possess an obligate bacterial endosymbiont called Blochmannia.[12] This bacterium has a small genome, and retains genes to biosynthesize essential amino acids and other nutrients. This suggests the bacterium plays a role in ant nutrition. Many Camponotus species are also infected with Wolbachia, another endosymbiont that is widespread across insect groups.[citation needed]
Behavior and ecology[edit]
Nesting[edit]
Play media
Carpenter ant colony in an old fir stump
Carpenter ants work to build the nests that house eggs in environments with usually high humidity due to their sensitivity to environmental humidity. These nests are called primary nests. Satellite nests are constructed once the primary nest is established and has begun to mature. Residents of satellite nests include older larvae, pupae, and some winged individuals. Only eggs, the newly hatched larvae, workers, and the queen reside in the primary nests. As satellite nests do not have environmentally sensitive eggs, the ants can construct them in rather diverse locations that can actually be relatively dry.[13] Some species, like Camponotus vagus, builds the nest in a dry place, usually in wood.
Nuptial flight[edit]
When conditions are warm and humid, winged males and females participate in a nuptial flight. They emerge from their satellite nests and females mate with a number of males while in flight. The males die after mating. These newly fertilized queens discard their wings and search for new areas to establish primary nests. The queens build new nests and deposit around 20 eggs, nurturing them as they grow until worker ants emerge. The worker ants eventually assist her in caring for the brood as she lays more eggs. After a few years, reproductive winged ants are born, allowing for the making of new colonies. Again, satellite nests will be established and the process will repeat itself. [13]
Relatedness[edit]
Relatedness is the probability that a gene in one individual is an identical copy, by descent, of a gene in another individual. It is essentially a measure of how closely related two individuals are with respect to a gene. It is quantified by the coefficient of relatedness, which is a number between zero and one. The larger the value, the more two individuals are "related". Carpenter ants are social hymenopteran insects. This means the relatedness between offspring and parents is disproportionate. Females are more closely related to their sisters than they are to their offspring. Between full sisters, the coefficient of relatedness is r > 0.75 (due to their haplodiploid genetic system).[14] Between parent and offspring, the coefficient of relatedness is r = 0.5, because, given the event in meiosis, a certain gene has a 50% chance of being passed on to the offspring. The level of relatedness is an important dictator of individual interactions.[citation needed]
Kin recognition[edit]
According to Hamilton's rule for relatedness, for relative-specific interactions to occur, such as kin altruism, a high level of relatedness is necessary between two individuals. Carpenter ants, like many social insect species, have mechanisms by which individuals determine whether others are nestmates or not. They are useful because they explain the presence or absence of altruistic behavior between individuals. They also act as evolutionary strategies to help prevent incest and promote kin selection.[15] Social carpenter ants recognize their kin in many ways. These methods of recognition are largely chemical in nature, and include environmental odors, pheromones, "transferable labels", and labels from the queen that are distributed to and among nest members.[16] Because they have a chemical basis for emission and recognition, odors are useful because many ants can detect such changes in their environment through their antennae.[17] This allows acceptance of nestmates and rejection of non-nestmates.[citation needed]
The actual process of recognition for carpenter ants requires two events. First, a cue must be present on a "donor animal". These cues are called "labels". Next, the receiving animal must be able to recognize and process the cue. In order for an individual carpenter ant to be recognized as a nestmate, it must, as an adult, go through specific interactions with older members of the nest.[16] This process is also necessary in order for the ant to recognize and distinguish other individuals. If these interactions do not occur in the beginning of adult life, the ant will be unable to be distinguished as a nestmate and unable to distinguish nestmates.[18]
Kin altruism[edit]
Recognition allows for the presence of kin-specific interactions, like kin altruism. Altruistic individuals increase other individuals' fitness at the expense of their own fitness. Carpenter ants perform altruistic actions toward their nestmates so that their shared genes are propagated more readily or more often. In many social insect species like these ants, many worker animals are sterile and do not have the ability to reproduce. As a result, they forgo reproduction to donate energy and help the fertile individuals reproduce.[citation needed]
Pheromones[edit]
As in most other social insect species, individual interaction is heavily influenced by the queen. The queen can influence individuals with odors called pheromones, which can have different effects. Some pheromones have been known to calm workers, while others have been known to excite them. Pheromonal cues from ovipositing queens have a stronger effect on worker ants than those of virgin queens.[19]
Social immunity[edit]
In many social insect species, social behavior can increase the disease resistance of animals. This phenomenon, called social immunity, exists in carpenter ants. It is mediated through the feeding of other individuals by regurgitation. The regurgitate can have antimicrobial activity, which would be spread amongst members of the colony. Some proteases with antimicrobial activity have been found to exist in regurgitated material. Communal sharing of immune response capability is likely to play a large role in colonial maintenance during highly pathogenic periods.[20]
Oligogyny[edit]
Polygyny is often associated with many social insect species, and is usually characterized by limited mating flights, small queen size, and other characteristics. However, carpenter ants have "extensive" mating flights and relatively large queens, distinguishing them from polygynous species. Carpenter ants are described as oligogynous because they have a number of fertile queens which are intolerant of each other and must therefore spread to different areas of the nest. Some aggressive interactions have been known to take place between queens, but not necessarily through workers. Queens become aggressive mainly to other queens if they trespass on a marked territory. Queens in a given colony can work together in brood care[5] and the workers tend to experience higher rates of survival in colonies with multiple queens. Some researchers still subscribe to the notion that carpenter ant colonies are only monogynous.[21]
Exploding ants[edit]
In at least nine Southeast Asian species of the Cylindricus complex, including Camponotus saundersi, workers feature greatly enlarged mandibular glands that run the entire length of the ant's body. They can release their contents suicidally by performing autothysis, thereby rupturing the ant's body and spraying toxic substance from the head, which gives these species the common name "exploding ants."[22][23][24] The enlarged mandibular gland, which is many times the size of that of a normal ant, produces a glue. The glue bursts out and entangles and immobilizes all nearby victims.[25][26]
The termite species Globitermes sulphureus has a similar defensive system.[27]
Selected species[edit]
C. pennsylvanicus, winged male
C. crispulus queen
Wood damage by C. herculeanus
This structural board was destroyed by carpenter ants. They left the dense "late wood" of each growth ring intact, to use as galleries.
This structural board was destroyed by carpenter ants. They left the dense "late wood" of each growth ring intact, to use as galleries.
See List of Camponotus species for a complete listing of species and subspecies.
Camponotus aeneopilosus Mayr, 1862 – golden tail sugar ant
Camponotus amaurus (Espadaler, 1997)
Camponotus americanus
Camponotus anderseni
Camponotus atriceps – Florida carpenter ant (cf. C. floridanus)
Camponotus bishamon
Camponotus chromaiodes – red carpenter ant
Camponotus cinctellus – shiny sugar ant
Camponotus compressus (Fabricius, 1787)
Camponotus consobrinus – banded sugar ant
Camponotus crassus Mayr, 1862
Camponotus cruentatus (Latreille, 1802)
Camponotus daitoensis
Camponotus detritus Emery, 1886 – Namib Desert dune ant
Camponotus empedocles – glossy sugar ant
Camponotus ferrugineus – red carpenter ant
Camponotus festinatus (Buckley, 1866)
Camponotus flavomarginatus Mayr, 1862
Camponotus floridanus, Florida carpenter ant, genome 90% sequenced[28]
Camponotus gigas (Latreille, 1802) – giant forest ant
Camponotus haroi (Espadaler, 1997)
Camponotus herculeanus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Hercules ant
Camponotus japonicus Mayr, 1866 – Japanese carpenter ant
Camponotus kaura
Camponotus ligniperda, a common species in Europe
Camponotus modoc Wheeler, W. M., 1910 – western carpenter ant
Camponotus monju
Camponotus nearcticus (Emery) – smaller carpenter ant
Camponotus nigriceps (Smith, 1858) – black-headed sugar ant
Camponotus novaeboracensis
Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) – black carpenter ant
Camponotus reburrus Mackay, in Mackay & Barriga, 2012
Camponotus punctulatus (Mayr) – Tacuru ant
Camponotus saundersi
Camponotus schmitzi Stärke, 1933 – diving ant
Camponotus sericeus
Camponotus silvestrii Emery, 1906
Camponotus taino
Camponotus tortuganus (Emery) – Tortugas carpenter ant
Camponotus triodiae
Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1890
Camponotus vagus Scopoli, 1763
Camponotus variegatus (Smith, F., 1858) – Hawaiian carpenter ant
Relationship with humans[edit]
As pests[edit]
Carpenter ants can damage wood used in the construction of buildings. They can leave behind a sawdust-like material called frass that provides clues to their nesting location. Carpenter ant galleries are smooth and very different from termite-damaged areas, which have mud packed into the hollowed-out areas. Carpenter ants can be identified by the general presence of one upward protruding node, looking like a spike, at the "waist" attachment between the thorax and abdomen (petiole). Control involves application of insecticides in various forms including dusts and liquids. The dusts are injected directly into galleries and voids where the carpenter ants are living. The liquids are applied in areas where foraging ants are likely to pick the material up and spread the poison to the colony upon returning.[citation needed]
As food[edit]
Honeypot ants in Northern Territory, Australia
Carpenter ants and their larvae are eaten in various parts of the world. In Australia, the Honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) is regularly eaten raw by Indigenous Australians.[29] It is a particular favourite source of sugar if Australian Aboriginals are living in arid regions, partially digging up their nests instead of digging them up entirely, in order to preserve this food source.[30][31] In North America, lumbermen during the early years in Maine would eat carpenter ants to prevent scurvy,[32] and in John Muir's publication, First Summer in the Sierra, Muir notes that the Digger Indians of California ate the tickling, acid gasters of the large jet-black carpenter ants.[33] In Africa, carpenter ants are among the vast amount of species that are consumed by the San people.[34]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Johnson, Norman F. (December 19, 2007). "Camponotus Mayr". Hymenoptera Name Server version 1.5. Columbus, Ohio, USA: Ohio State University. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
Jump up ^ Cranshaw, Whitney; Richard Redak (2013). Bugs Rule!: An Introduction to the World of Insects. Princeton Univ. Press. p. 329. ISBN 1-4008-4892-X.
Jump up ^ "Carpenter ants: Insects: University of Minnesota Extension". Extension.umn.edu. 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
Jump up ^ Feldhaar, H.; et al. (2007). "Nutritional upgrading for omnivorous carpenter ants by the endosymbiont Blochmannia". BMC Biology. 5 (1): 48. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-5-48. PMC 2206011  . PMID 17971224. CS1 maint: Explicit use of et al. (link)
^ Jump up to: a b Colony Size and Polygyny in Carpenter Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Roger D. Akre, Laurel D. Hansen and Elizabeth A. Myhre Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society , Vol. 67, No. 1 (January 1994), pp. 1–9
Jump up ^ Pricer, John. The Life History of the Carpenter Ant. Biological Bulletin , Vol. 14, No. 3 (Feb., 1908), pp. 177-218
Jump up ^ Yamamoto, Marcela, and Kleber Del-Claro. "Natural History and Foraging Behavior of the Carpenter Ant Camponotus Sericeiventris Guérin, 1838 (Formicinae, Campotonini) in the Brazilian Tropical Savanna." Acta Ethologica 11.2 (2008): 55-65. Print.
Jump up ^ B.Colyott, firsthand observation over a several year period.
Jump up ^ Dreisig, H. "Defense by Exploitation in the Florida Carpenter Ant, Camponotus Floridanus , at an Extrafloral Nectar Resource." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 47.4 (2000): 274-79. Print.
Jump up ^ "Carpenter Ants: 3 Consistent Patterns That Make Their Competition's Foraging More Unpredictable". 1999. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
Jump up ^ Hahn, Jeff. "Carpenter Ants": Insects: University of Minnesota Extension. N.p., n.d. Web. October 1, 2013.
Jump up ^ Feldhaar, Heike; Straka, Josef; Krischke, Markus; Berthold, Kristina; Stoll, Sascha; Mueller, Martin J; Gross, Roy (2007). "Nutritional upgrading for omnivorous carpenter ants by the endosymbiont Blochmannia". BMC Biology. 5 (1): 48. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-5-48. PMC 2206011  . PMID 17971224.
^ Jump up to: a b Pararas — Carayannis, Carolyn. "Carpenter Ants". Colony Behaviors of Carpenter Ants. Web. October 1, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Journey to Horseshoe Bend by T. G. H. Strehlow". JSTOR 671994.
Jump up ^ Kin Recognition Using Innate Labels: A Central Role for Piggybacking?. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-1053-2_11.
^ Jump up to: a b Carlin, Norman F.; Schwartz, Peter H. (July 1989). "Pre-imaginal experience and nestmate brood recognition in the carpenter ant, Camponotus floridanus". Animal Behaviour. 38 (1): 89–95. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(89)80068-5.
Jump up ^ CARLIN, N. F.; HOLLDOBLER, B. (2 December 1983). "Nestmate and Kin Recognition in Interspecific Mixed Colonies of Ants". Science. 222 (4627): 1027–1029. Bibcode:1983Sci...222.1027C. doi:10.1126/science.222.4627.1027. PMID 17776248.
Jump up ^ Morel, Laurence; Vander Meer, Robert K.; Lavine, Barry K. (1988). "Ontogeny of nestmate recognition cues in the red carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus)". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 22 (3): 175. doi:10.1007/BF00300567.
Jump up ^ H.G. Fowler and R. B. Roberts Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, Vol. 55, No. 3 (July 1982), pp. 568–570
Jump up ^ Hamilton, C; Lejeune, B. T.; Rosengaus, R. B. (2011). "Trophallaxis and Prophylaxis: Social Immunity in the Carpenter Ant Camponotus Pennsylvanicus". Biology Letters. 7 (1): 89–92. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0466. PMC 3030872  . PMID 20591850.
Jump up ^ Gadau, Jürgen; Gertsch, Pia J.; Heinze, Jürgen; Pamilo, Pekka; hölldobler, Bert (1998). "Oligogyny by Unrelated Queens in the Carpenter Ant, Camponotus Ligniperdus". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 44: 23–33. doi:10.1007/s002650050511. JSTOR 4601542.
Jump up ^ Jones, T.H.; Clark, D.A.; Edwards, A.A.; Davidson, D.W.; Spande, T.F.; Snelling; Roy, R. (2004). "The Chemistry of Exploding Ants, Camponotus spp. (Cylindricus complex)"". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 30 (8): 1479–1492. doi:10.1023/B:JOEC.0000042063.01424.28. PMID 15537154.
Jump up ^ Emery, Carlo (1889). Viaggio di Leonardo Fea in Birmania e regioni vicine. XX. Formiche di Birmania e del Tenasserim raccolte da Leonardo Fea (1885–87). Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genova) 2 7(27): 485–520. [PDF]
Jump up ^ "Utahn enters world of exploding ants". Deseret News. September 11, 2002. University of Utah graduate student Steve Cook explained "They've been called kamikaze ants by other researchers because they tend to explode or self-destruct when they're attacked or harassed in any way."
Jump up ^ Vittachi, Nury (June 6, 2008). "The Malaysian ant teaches us all how to go out with a bang". Daily Star. Dhaka.
Jump up ^ Ridley, Mark (1995). Animal Behaviour (Second ed.). Blackwell Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 0-86542-390-3. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
Jump up ^ Robert S. Anderson; Richard Beatty; Stuart Church (January 2003). Insects and Spiders of the World. 9. p. 543. ISBN 978-0-7614-7334-3.
Jump up ^ Bonasio, R.; et al. (November 12, 2011). "Genome data from the Florida carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus)". GigaScience. doi:10.5524/100018. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
Jump up ^ Capinera 2008, p. 1342.
Jump up ^ Resh & Cardé 2009, p. 381.
Jump up ^ Gullan & Cranston 2010, p. 13.
Jump up ^ Srivastava, S.K.; Babu, Naresh; Pandey, Hema (2009). "Traditional insect bioprospecting-As human food and medicine" (PDF). Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 8 (4): 485–494. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
Jump up ^ Bequaert J (1921). "Insects as food: How they have augmented the food supply of mankind in early and recent times". Natural History Journal. 21: 191–200.
Jump up ^ Morris 2006, p. 52.
Cited texts[edit]
Capinera, John L. (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4020-6242-1.
Morris, Brian (2006). Insects and Human Life. Berg. ISBN 978-1-84520-949-0.
Resh, Vincent H. (2009). Encyclopedia of Insects (2nd ed.). Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-08-092090-0.
Gullan, P.J.; Cranston, P.S. The Insects: An Outline of Entomology (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-1767-1.
Further reading[edit]
Mayr, Gustav (1861): Die europäischen Formiciden. Vienna. PDF—original description of p. 35
McArthur, Archie J (2007): A Key to Camponotus Mayr of Australia. In: Snelling, R.R., B.L. Fisher and P.S. Ward (eds). Advances in ant systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): homage to E. O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80. PDF — 91 species, 10 subspecies
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Camponotus.
Wikispecies has information related to Camponotus
Carpenter Ant Information
University of Kentucky Extension Fact Sheet
Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet
Carpenter Ant Fact Sheet from the National Pest Management Association with information on habits, habitat and prevention
Carpenter Ants An online supplemental to "Carpenter Ants: Biology and Control" by Laurel Hansen, Ph.D. of Spokane Falls Community College
Taxon identifiers
Wd: Q157875
ADW: Camponotus
BugGuide: 354
EoL: 32539
Fauna Europaea: 81402
ITIS: 154194
NCBI: 13390
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carpenter_ant&oldid=813175994"
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