Ant and Related Entomology Terms
(terms restricted to the study of social insects; such as, ants and words that apply generally to entomology)
Besides their unique behavior and the many peculiar behavioral and physiological changes associated with it, the Attini are distinguished from other ants by an unusual combination of anatomical traits, including the shape of the antennal segments; a less-than-absolute tendency toward hard, spinose, or tuberculate bodies, and a proportionately large, casement-like first gastral segment.
Many of the species of attines gather pieces of fresh leaves and flowers to nourish the fungus gardens. As fresh leaves and other plant cuttings are brought into the nest, they are subjected to a process of degradation before being inserted into the garden substratum.
The ants chew the fragments along the edges until the pieces become wet and pulpy, sometimes adding a droplet of clear anal liquid to the surface.
Finally, the ants pluck tufts of mycelia (vegetative parts of fungi) from other parts of the garden and plant them on the newly formed portions of the substratum.
They are aggressive and are especially active at the tips of growing branches, but they lack the painful bites or effective stings characteristic of other Amazon ants like army ants or fire ants.
The ants feed off protein-rich secretions, necessary in their diet, that are produced by special glands at the base of the leaves.
Azteca ants do not sting, but they do bite, and will fiercely protect the tree from potential dangers; for example, they attack other insects that land on the tree and drive them away.
They will cut and kill any vines that begin to climb up the tree; whereas many other trees in the rain forest will be covered in epiphytes or dripping with vines, cecropia trees are generally epiphyte-free and vine-free.
These actions of the azteca ants allow the cecropia tree to stay healthy, grow as fast as possible, and successfully compete with other trees for limited sunlight; in return, the tree provides the protecting ant with a place to live and a source of food.
In the strict sense, eggs and pupae are not members of the society, but they are nevertheless referred to as part of the brood.
Eclose refers to the emergence of an adult insect from a pupal case or an insect larva from an egg.
The ant carton consists of particles of wood, dry vegetable material, and soil glued together with sugary secretions collected by the ants from aphids and other homopteran insects (bugs that pierce plant tissues and suck out the sap).
The fungal mycelium (loose network of delicate filaments hyphae or threadlike filaments that form the body of a fungus) grows through the walls of the carton which are strengthened by the symbiotic fungus which reinforces them in the same way that steel mesh or rods reinforce the walls of buildings.
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).