''Myrmecocystus'' is a
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
n
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
s in the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...
Formicinae
The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development.
Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and lit ...
. It is one of five genera that includes
honeypot ant
Honeypot ants, also called honey ants, are ants which have specialised workers (repletes, plerergates, or rotunds) that are gorged with food to the point that their abdomens swell enormously. Other ants then extract nourishment from them, throug ...
s. Worker ants keep and tend
plerergates, which are other ants that store large quantities of nutritious fluid in their abdomens to feed the colony during
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...
times. Some species engage in highly territorial tournaments, which can result in intraspecific slavery. During the raids, they carry off larvae, workers, and plerergates.
Species
*''
Myrmecocystus christineae''
Snelling, 1982
*''
Myrmecocystus colei''
Snelling, 1976
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Myrmecocystus creightoni''
Snelling, 1971
*''
Myrmecocystus depilis''
Forel, 1901
*''
Myrmecocystus ewarti''
Snelling, 1971
*''
Myrmecocystus flaviceps''
Wheeler, 1912
*''
Myrmecocystus hammettensis''
Cole, 1938
*''
Myrmecocystus intonsus''
Snelling, 1976
*''
Myrmecocystus kathjuli''
Snelling, 1976
*''
Myrmecocystus kennedyi''
Snelling, 1969
*''
Myrmecocystus koso''
Snelling, 1976
*''
Myrmecocystus lugubris''
Wheeler, 1909
*''
Myrmecocystus melanoticus''
Wheeler, 1914
*''
Myrmecocystus melliger''
Forel, 1886
*''
Myrmecocystus mendax''
Wheeler, 1908
*''
Myrmecocystus mexicanus''
Wesmael, 1838
*''
Myrmecocystus mimicus''
Wheeler, 1908
*''
Myrmecocystus navajo''
Wheeler, 1908
*''
Myrmecocystus nequazcatl''
Snelling, 1976
*''
Myrmecocystus perimeces''
Snelling, 1976
*''
Myrmecocystus placodops''
Forel, 1908
*''
Myrmecocystus pyramicus''
Smith, 1951
*''
Myrmecocystus romainei''
Hunt & Snelling, 1975
*''
Myrmecocystus semirufus''
Emery, 1893
*''
Myrmecocystus snellingi''
Bolton, 1995
*''
Myrmecocystus tenuinodis''
Snelling, 1976
*''
Myrmecocystus testaceus''
Emery, 1893
*''
Myrmecocystus wheeleri''
Snelling, 1971
*''
Myrmecocystus yuma''
Wheeler, 1912
Media
*
Natural World: Empire of the Desert Ants, BBC TWO 10 August 2011, 8 pm BST
informationabout it on BBC Nature
References
External links
*
Formicinae
Hymenoptera of North America
Ant genera
Edible insects
{{formicinae-stub