Myrmecocystus
Encyclopedia
Myrmecocystus is a North America
n genus
of ant
s. It is one of five genera that includes honeypot ant
s. Worker ants keep and tend plerergate
s, which are other ants that store large quantities of nutritious fluid in their abdomens to feed the colony during famine
times. There
Species include:
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s. It is one of five genera that includes honeypot ant
Honeypot ant
Honeypot ants, also called honey ants or repletes, are ants which are gorged with food by workers, to the point that their abdomens swell enormously, a condition called plerergate. Other ants then extract nourishment from them. They function essentially as living larders. Honeypot ants belong to...
s. Worker ants keep and tend plerergate
Plerergate
A plerergate is a polymorph of an ant, also known as a replete or rotund, characterized by an enlarged abdominal area for the purpose of food storage. This occurs in honey ants....
s, which are other ants that store large quantities of nutritious fluid in their abdomens to feed the colony during famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
times. There
Species include:
- Myrmecocystus depilis
- Myrmecocystus flaviceps
- Myrmecocystus mendax
- Myrmecocystus mexicanus
- Myrmecocystus mimicus
- Myrmecocystus navajo