This is a glossary of terms used in the descriptions of ants.
device used to extract ants and other living organism from soil and leaf-litter samples; a sample is placed on a screen with a funnel beneath, and a heat source above; the drying forces the animals downwards, where they fall into a collecting jar, usually filled with alcohol[1]
living or foraging above the ground[1]
denotes any intercaste female morphologically intermediate between workers and (winged) queens, not restricted to the reproductive caste; formerly often used interchangeably to refer to ergatoid queens[5]
a wingless (dealate) reproductive adult ant, anatomically intermediate in form between workers and winged queens or males[5]
"parasitogenic" phenotype of worker ants, caused by mermithid nematodes[7]
"parasitogenic" phenotype of gynes, caused by mermithid nematodes[7]
queen mating with a single male[8]
colony housing arrangement in a single nest[9]
nest arrangement containing a single queen[6]
nest arrangement of a population of ants consisting of multiple independent colonies (monodomous or polydomous)[9]
domatium housed by ants[4]
trail of chemical compounds secreted by ants to guide nestmates to a target (usually food)[14]
colony founding by multiple queens[6]
queen mating with multiple males[8]
colony arrangement housed in multiple separate nests[9]
nest arrangement containing multiple queens[6]
single queen founding a colony (haplometrosis), with no additional queens incorporated into the colony[6]
colony founding by multiple queens (pleometrosis), with more than one queen surviving[6]
colony founding by multiple queens (pleometrosis), a single queen survive[6]
colony founding by a single queen (haplometrosis), with additional queens incorporated into the colony at a later stage, usually by adoption or fusion with other colonies[6]
recruitment method used by some species of ants, where one ant leads a single, closely following nestmate to a target (usually food)[14]
a population of ants inhabiting a single large polydomous colony[9]
device used to extract ants and other living organism from soil and leaf-litter samples; a sample is placed inside an inner bag constructed from cloth mesh, which is suspended in a second bag containing a funnel leading to a collecting jar, usually filled with alcohol; the device is hung up in the air and passively extracts escaping animals[1]