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Myrmecocystus
Myrmecocystus is a North American genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. It is one of five genera that includes honeypot ants. 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 times. Some species engage in highly territorial tournaments, which can result in intraspecific slavery. During the raids, they carry off larvae, workers, and plerergates. The genus has three subgenera, namely Myrmecocystus, Endiodioctes, and Eremnocystus.
7 branches of this group, most-observed first
Mexican Honeypot Ant
speciesMyrmecocystus mexicanus
Myrmecocystus testaceus
speciesMyrmecocystus testaceus
Navajo Honeypot Ant
speciesMyrmecocystus navajo
Myrmecocystus melanoticus
speciesMyrmecocystus melanoticus
Ewart's Honeypot Ant
speciesMyrmecocystus ewarti
Myrmecocystus pyramicus
speciesMyrmecocystus pyramicus
Myrmecocystus christineae
speciesMyrmecocystus christineae
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Myrmecocystus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1195901.