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Myrmecology (/ m ɜːr m ɪ ˈ k ɒ l ə dʒ i /; from Greek: μύρμηξ, myrmex, "ant" and λόγος, logos, "study") is a branch of entomology focusing on the study of ants. Ants continue to be a model of choice for the study of questions on the evolution of social systems because of their complex and varied forms of social organization .
Top: An ant in Mozambique Bottom: An ant-mimicking spider, Myrmarachne Ant mimicry or myrmecomorphy is mimicry of ants by other organisms; it has evolved over 70 times. Ants are abundant all over the world, and potential predators that rely on vision to identify their prey, such as birds and wasps, normally avoid them, because they are either unpalatable or aggressive.
Myrmecochory is exhibited by more than 3,000 plant species worldwide [3] and is present in every major biome on all continents except Antarctica. [4] Seed dispersal by ants is particularly common in the dry heath and sclerophyll woodlands of Australia (1,500 species) and the South African fynbos (1,000 species).
Ants have a more rigid list of criterion to be considered "true" tramp species. The most cited body of work outlining these traits comes from Luc Passera. [ 2 ] His primary and most important criterion is that the distribution of the species must be linked to human activities, what he refers to as " anthropophilic tendency". [ 2 ]
Myrmecotrophy, meaning "ant-fed," is the ability of plants to absorb nutrients from debris piles left by ant nests or, in the case of Nepenthes bicalcarata, from ant egesta. [13] The tropical tree Cecropia peltata obtains 98% of its nitrogen from the waste deposited by its ant counterparts.
In more recent times, animated cartoons and 3-D animated films featuring ants have been produced including Antz, A Bug's Life, The Ant Bully, The Ant and the Aardvark, Ferdy the Ant and Atom Ant. Renowned myrmecologist E. O. Wilson wrote a short story, "Trailhead" in 2010 for The New Yorker magazine, which describes the life and death of an ant ...
The flight of ants seen in Boston on Monday is called a nuptial flight, according to Emily Stolarski of Mass Wildlife, an event during the breeding period where winged females and males leave ...
Ants engage in associations with other honeydew-producing hemipterans, such as scale insects , mealybugs (Pseudococcidae), and treehoppers (Membracidae), and most of these interaction are facultative and opportunistic with some cases of obligate associations, such as hemipterans that are inquiline, meaning they can only survive inside ant nests ...