Pest Library

Characteristics

The honeypot ant queen is large and has wings. She will lose her wings after mating. Males have wings, but are smaller. The worker ants, although they are small, but they are known for being unique. The unique worker ant is like a living refrigerator since her bottom can grow to be the size of a grape or a cherry as it holds nectar or honeydew inside.

Habitat

This species of ant lives around the world - usually in dry environments or in deserts. In the U.S. they are found in Arizona, Utah, California, and Colorado. They live underground, surrounded by tiny dry clods of dirt or sand.

Behavior

When they are found in their habitat, these ants will be seen hanging from the domed roof of their nest with their bottoms hanging. Some workers are self-sacrificing since they will allow themselves to gorge nectar until their bottom becomes as big as a grape. Once they come back to their nest, they will attach themselves to the ceiling and will become a reserve for other ants in the colony. When the supply of nectar becomes low, these reserves will be used by the other ants.

The ants who sacrificed themselves for the colony will not be able to return to their normal appearance since their bottom will not grow back to their normal size. After the rest of the ants consume their nectar or honeydew, they will die.

Food

Honeypot ants usually search for sugary nectar or honeydew and will bring them back to their colony to share. Their food cycle is like feast and famine. They will enjoy plenty of food while in the rainy season, but knows how to store food when the dry season comes, which allows them to enjoy more food even during the dry season.

Life Cycle

Not all honeypot ants become repletes since their colony also consist of soldiers, and queens. The queen is mainly responsible for the reproduction and growth of the colony, but the honeypot ant workers are responsible for their survival during the times when there is little food.

A younger queen ant may challenge other honeypot ant colonies, especially the bigger colonies who have enough honeypot workers. To be able to get the bigger colony, she may try to convince other queens from other colonies to challenge the bigger colony so that they can steal the other workers and their honeypot. The battle will consist of domination, cannibalism, and genocide, and at the end of the battle, the stronger colony will win. The same procedure will also happen to the invading queen once a new young queen emerges.

Other Information and Tips

Honeypot ants are not considered dangerous. In fact, most people are amazed by how they store their food on their bottom. Some people even eat these honeydews straight from the bottom of the ant. Fortunately, there are zoos in the U.S., such as in San Diego Zoo and Oakland Zoo, where these ants can be observed, but not eaten.

Honeypot ants (Myrmecocystus mimicus) at Oakland Zoo by Derrick Coetzee, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / resized from original