scrobe
A groove or other cavity into which an appendage can be protectively folded.
It ordinarily refers to the antennal scrobe (mobile appendage cavity on the head) found in some ant species.
semiochemicals
Chemicals used in communication within or between species.
sensillum
In insects, a simple sense organ or one of the structural units of a compound sense organ.
serrate
With teeth along the edge; saw-like.
seta (s), setae (pl)
A hair or hairs.
shagreened
Referring to a surface that is covered with a fine but close-set and irregular roughness.
social bucket
A reference to the process by which liquid food is carried between the mandibles, thence to be shared with nest mates by mouth-to-mouth contact.
social homeostasis
The maintenance of steady states at the level of the society either by control of the nest microclimate or by regulation of the population density, behavior, and physiology of the group members as a whole.
social insect
In the strict sense, a
true social insect is one that belongs to a eusocial species; in other words, it is an ant, a termite, or one of the eusocial wssps or bees.
In the broad sense, a social insect is one that belongs to either a pre-social or eusocial species.
social parasiism
The co-existence in the same nest of two species of social insects, one of which is parasitically dependent on the other.
The term can also be applied loosely to the relation between symphiles and their social insect hosts.
social stomach
The first segment of the gastral gut, also called the crop, where liquid food can be stored and from which it can be passed to nest mates by regurgitation.
socialgenesis, social genesis
The procedures by which individual ants undergo changes in caste, behavior, and physical location incident to colonial development.
The behavior of a colony of ants as a whole can be understood only if the programs and positional effects of the individual members are both specified and explained more deeply at the physiological level; however, such data is still far from being complete.
society
A group of individuals belonging to the same species and organized in a cooperative manner.
Some amount of reciprocal communication among the members is implied.
sociobiology
The systematic study of the biological basis of all aspects of social behavior.
sociogenesis
The collective processes and patterns that lead to the development of a colony throughout its life cycle.
Here are two additional word units that deal directly with "ants":
formic- and myrmeco-.
Index of additional Scientific and Technological Topics.
Bibliography of Entomology or Insect Terms (The Ants).
