Hao Ran

Phenotypic plasticity displayed by an animal in response to different environmental conditions is supposedly crucial for its survival and reproduction. The female adults of some ant lineages display phenotypic plasticity related to reproductive role. In pharaoh ant queens, insemination induces substantial physiological/behavioral changes and implic...

The clonal raider ant, Ooceraea biroi, is a queenless species that reproduces asexually, and these traits make it an attractive model system for laboratory research. However, it is unclear where on the ant phylogeny these traits evolved, partly because few closely related species have been described and studied. Here, we describe a new raider ant s...

The invasion of exotic ant species in China presents significant challenges to ecosystems, agriculture, and the economy. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of China's ongoing battle with exotic ants, examining the factors contributing to their introduction and establishment. It explores the responses implemented by the decision makers, includ...

A new Chinese ant species Carebara laeviceps sp. nov. is described based on the major and minor workers. This species is most similar to C. lusciosa (Wheeler, 1928) due to a spineless propodeum, the absence of horns, and a smooth head capsule. It is distinguished by the following features: (1) antenna 10-segmented; (2) katepisternum rugose-reticula...

Ants are traded as pets across the globe, but if introduced outside of their native ranges they could become invasive with dire environmental and economic consequences. We demonstrate how geotagged e-commerce information can be utilized for biosecurity risk assessment. We monitored online pet ant sales in China and found that 58,937 ant colonies fr...

For social insects such as ants, the internal organs are likely important in understanding their eusocial behavior and evolution. Such organs, however, are rarely preserved on fossils. In each of the few cases reporting exceptionally fossilized soft tissues in arthropods, the nervous, muscular and cardiovascular systems have been described individu...

The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) is a major invasive species that seriously threatens the biodiversity of invaded areas. W. auropunctata was first reported in Chinese mainland in 2022 and its impact on native species is still unknown. To evaluate the impact of W. auropunctata invasion on the ant communities in southern China, a se...

For social insects such as ants, the internal organs are important in understanding their eusocial behaviour and evolution. Such organs, however, are rarely preserved on fossils. In each of the few cases reporting exceptionally fossilized soft tissues in arthropods, only one of the nervous, muscular or cardiovascular systems was described. Here, we...

In January 2022, we received ant specimens collected from three field colonies from Shantou City, Guangdong Province, China. They were identified as the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, through morphological and molecular analyses. Wasmannia auropunctata is listed as one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species by the International Union...

The paralysis behavior of some ponerine ants when foraging may be important for food storage and colony development. However, how workers invest in paralysis under different prey circumstances is often overlooked. Here, we report the prey-foraging behavior and paralysis behavior of Harpegnathos venator under different food supply conditions. Solita...

The iron maiden ant, which was first described as †Zigrasimecia Barden & Grimaldi, 2013, received its nickname for bearing a unique mandible and ferocious mouthparts covered by spiky, columnar-shaped denticles. Here, we describe a new species based on an alate female preserved in 99-Ma Kachin amber – †Zigrasimecia goldingot sp. nov. – which display...

Background Ants with complex societies have fascinated scientists for centuries. Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses across ant species and castes have revealed important insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying ant caste differentiation. However, most current ant genomes and transcriptomes are highly fragmented and incomplete,...

We report the discovery of concentrated invertebrate inchnofossils in close association with a dinosaur nest from the Hekou Formation in Jiangxi Province, China. The seven dinosaurian eggs reported clearly belong to the Elongatoolithidae and burrow traces were most likely made by small crustaceans. This association prompts the question as to whethe...

Invasive ant species interact with both native and previously introduced ants in new environments. Their effects on resident species may vary warranting a careful examination of the possible mechanisms that govern these differences. We used individual and group aggression assays and an assay of walking speed to examine behavioral interactions betwe...

During the process of insect rearing and research, reliable insect escape prevention is indispensable. However, methods for preventing the escape of small insects, such as ants, remain limited. We used a mixture of talc powder and ethanol to prepare an anti-escape solution and compared its effects on Solenopsis invicta BUREN, 1972 and Monomorium in...

We report an osseous abnormality on a specimen of the sauropod dinosaur Lufengosaurus huenei from the Fengjiahe Formation in Yuxi Basin, China. A gross pathological defect occurs on the right third rib, which was subjected to micro-computed tomographic imaging as an aid in diagnosis. The analysis of pathological characteristics and the shape of the...

Protanilla beijingensis sp. nov. from Beijing, China, is described. The distribution of the new Protanilla species is further north than that of any other species in the genus. This also represents the first record of a Leptanillinae species from Palaearctic China. By means of a subterranean pitfall trap (between 30 and 55 cm below ground), we made...

In his correspondence, Markus Lambertz [1] raises some concerns about the phylogenetic placement and feather development of DIP-V-15103, the amber-entombed tail section that we recently reported [2] as fragmentary remains of a non-pygostylian coelurosaur (likely within the basal part of Coelurosauria). We here would like to respond to these concern...

Here we report a Jurassic tetrapod burrow preserved in association with the partial skeleton of a large sauropod specimen of Omeisaurus jiaoi from Zigong, Sichuan Province, China. The ichnofossil can be divided into two parts, which may indicate two individual trace makers and some social behavior, although the possibility that they are two portion...

In the two decades since the discovery of feathered dinosaurs [1-3], the range of plumage known from non-avialan theropods has expanded significantly, confirming several features predicted by developmentally informed models of feather evolution [4-10]. However, three-dimensional feather morphology and evolutionary patterns remain difficult to inter...

The Panxi region has rich Cretaceous dinosaur ichnofaunal assemblages. Since the discovery of fossil tracks in 1991, no fewer than 11 track morphotypes have been recognized from at least 8 tracksites. They include 9 different dinosaur track types (attributable to 6 non- avian theropod, 2 avian theropod, and 1 sauropod trackmakers) and tracks of pte...

Re-examination of the Late Cretaceous Yangmeikeng tracksite, in the Zhutian Formation (Nanxiong Group) near Nanxiong, Guangdong Province, China, has led to the documentation of over 30 vertebrate tracks. The track assemblage is dominated by large and small ornithopod tracks. The larger ornithopod tracks have been assigned to Hadrosauropodus nanxion...

Dinosaur track and bone records often occur at different locations. However, a few formations show a close correspondence between bones and tracks that correspond to likely trackmakers. In this paper, the authors report sauropod tracks (Brontopodus) in very close geographic and stratigraphic proximity to the type locality of the eusauropod Tonganos...

For more than 70 years unusual sauropod trackways have played a pivotal role in debates about the swimming ability of sauropods. Most claims that sauropods could swim have been based on manus-only or manus-dominated trackways. However none of these incomplete trackways has been entirely convincing, and most have proved to be taphonomic artifacts, e...

We report the oldest fossil evidence of osteophagia by terrestrial invertebrates on both the Asian and African continents. Bones attributable to the Middle Jurassic dinosaur Chuanjiesaurus (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) were found with post-mortem insect modification in the Chuanjie Formation, Yunnan Province, China. The morphology of the borings closely...

The historically-famous Lotus Fortress site, a deep 1.5-3.0-meter-high, 200-meter-long horizonal notch high up in near-vertical sandstone cliffs comprising the Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation, has been known since the 13th Century as an impregnable defensive position. The site is also extraordinary for having multiple tetrapod track-bearing levels, of...

Here we describe two instances of pathological vertebral fusion in two genera of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Early Jurassic Lufeng Formation in Yunnan, China. The first is a specimen, of Lufengosaurus huenei with two fused cervical vertebrae, and the other is a specimen of the Lufeng basal sauropod, with two fused caudal vertebrae. Both patho...

Pathological or traumatic loss of teeth often results in the resorption and remodeling of the affected alveoli in mammals. However, instances of alveolar remodeling in reptiles are rare. A remodeled alveolus in the maxilla of the Chinese theropod Sinosaurus (Lower Jurassic Lower Lufeng Formation) is the first confirmed example of such dental pathol...