Ant and Related Entomology Terms
(terms restricted to the study of social insects; such as, ants and words that apply generally to entomology)
unicolonial (adjective) (not comparable)
A reference to a population of social insects in which there are no behavioral colony boundaries: A unicolonial social structure implies that the workers can travel easily among various nests.
The lower surface: The underside of the midsection or abdomen, of an arthropod is called the venter.
The top part of the head: The vertex is the upper surface of the head between the eyes, frons (forehead), and occiput, or the back part of the head.
Overt aggression between groups of workers from different colonies: Such wars result in the appropriation of territorial space or nest sites.
An ant members of the genus Oecophylla: A weaver ant uses their own larvae- made silk to weave leaves together for their nests.
A member of the non-reproductive laboring caste in semi-social and eusocial species: The existence of a worker caste presupposes the existence also of royal, or reproductive castes.
In termites, the term worker is used in a more restricted sense to designate individuals in the family Termitidae that completely lack wings and have reduced pterothorax, eyes, and genital apparatus.
The relation in which colonies of one species live in the nests of another species: Characteristic features of xenobiosis include the free move among the hosts, the obtainment of food from them by regurgitation or other means, and the separation of their brood.
Xenobiosis is a form of symbiosis among ants in which two colonies of different species live together on friendly terms without rearing their broods in common.
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).
