Ant and Related Entomology Terms +(terms restricted to the study of social insects; such as, ants and words that apply generally to entomology)abdomen
The third, posterior most major division of the body.
aciculate
Finely striate (thin, narrow groove or channel), as if scratched by a needle.
acidopore
In formicine ants, the circular exit of the poison gland formed by the margin of the terminal gastral sternite.
active space
The space within which the concentration of a pheromone (or any other behaviorally active substance) is at or above threshold concentration.
The active space of a pheromone is, in fact, the signal itself. aculeate
A reference to the Aculeata, or stinging Hymenoptera, a group including the bees, ants, and many of the wasps.
acuminate
Tapering to a fine point.
adaptive demography
Programed schedules of individual birth, growth, and death resulting in frequency distributions of age and size in the worker caste that promote survival and reproduction of the ant colony as a whole.
adaptive radiation
The process of evolution by which species multiply, diverge into different niches; for example, species that are predators on different kinds of prey, and come to occupy the same or at least overlapping ranges.
adoption substance
A secretion presented by a social parasite that induces the host insects to accept the parasite as a member of their ant colony.
adult transport
The carrying or dragging of one adult social insect by a nest mate, usually during colony emigrations.
In ants, adult transport is a very frequent and stereotypical form of behavior. adventitious ant shelters
1. Adventitious refers to something that is added from an outside and often unexpected source rather than being an intrinsic element.
2. Incidental or adventitious ant-nest sites are associated by chance and are not an integral part of plants. Such incidental nest sites can be divided into convenient categories as follows:
None of these diverse structures appears to be "designed" to accommodate ant colonies and all of them are ordinary anatomical features of the plants that the ants exploit, apparently in a unilateral manner. In contrast, the domatia do appear to serve as ant nests because they are featured by cavities that form independently of the ants. So, it is adventitious when roots and tubercles absorb nutrients from waste material carried onto the cavities, and even holes or thin windows of tissue through which ants can more conveniently enter and leave their colonies are essentially provided naturally by the plants, but not to entice ants as with the domatia. age polyethism, temporal polyethism
The regular changing of labor roles by colony members as they age.
aggregation
A group of individuals, comprising more than just a mated pair or a family, that has gathered in the same place but does not construct nests or rear offspring in a cooperative manner; as opposed to colony.
aggression
A physical act or threat of action by one individual or colony that reduces the freedom or genetic fitness of another.
alarm-defense system
Defensive behavior which also functions as an alarm signaling device within the colony.
Examples include the use by certain ant species of chemical defensive secretions that double as alarm pheromones. 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). If there are any numbers below, use them to see other pages in this unit.
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