Ant and Related Entomology Terms

The development of a social organization, as among insects: Sociogenesis is the collective processes and patterns that lead to the development of a colony throughout its life cycle.

A blend of sociology and genetics: Sociogenetics of insects is the hereditary basis of social behavior and of caste systems.

The complete repertories of all castes of a colony: A sociogram includes a specification of the frequencies of the acts and of the interactions among the castes.

A member of a worker subcaste specialized for colony defense: An ant soldier is a member of the subclass of workers that is especially apt at protecting and guarding the nest.

The scent found on the bodies of social insects which is peculiar to a given species: It is possible that the species odor is merely the less distinctive component of a larger mixture comprising the "colony odor", which is the odor found on the bodies of social insects.

A spine-like appendage at the end of the tibia: A spur is often paired and/or pectinate or comb-like.

Scale-shaped: Lizards belong to the order Squamata and are quite scaly or squamate in appearance.

A group of gongylidia (clusters), the swollen hyphal tips (long slender tubes): Staphylae are produced by fungi that live in symbiosis with attine, or fungus growing ants.

The period (as opposed to the "nomadic phase") in the activity cycle of an army ant colony during which the colony is relatively quiescent and does not move from site to site: At the time of the statary phase, the queen lays the eggs and the bulk of the brood is in the egg and in pupal states.

A reference to the sternum, particularly the breast-bone of vertebrates: Jill read about the sternal keel of a bird's breast in her book about birds.

A ventral sclerite, or plate, of an arthropod: A sternite is a portion of the body wall bounded by sutures and located in a ventral position.

The guidance of work performed by individual colony members by the evidences of work previously accomplished rather than by direct signals from nest mates: The mechanism of stigmergy involves the indirect coordination between traces of the previous activity by ants in the environment and what still needs to be achieved.

The exchange of liquid food mouth-to-mouth: By the method of Stomodeal trophallaxis food is either regurgitated from the crop (the first segment of the gastral gut) or released from glands in the head or thorax.

The foregut of an insect: The alimentary canal of insects has three main parts in which the first one is the stomodeum, that is ectodermal in origin, followed by the midgut (mesenteron), and the last part is the hindgut (proctodeum,).

A fine impressed line on the body surface: A stria on the skin can be identified from the adjacent area by color, texture, or elevation.