Ergatoid

thumb|An ergatoid queen of the species Myrmecia esuriens An ergatoid (from Greek ergat-, "worker" + -oid, "like") is a permanently wingless reproductive adult ant or termite. The similar but somewhat ambiguous term ergatogyne refers to any intermediate form between workers and standard gynes. Ergatoid queens are distinct from other ergatogyne individuals in that they are morphologically consistent within a species and are always capable of mating, whereas inter caste individuals, another class of ergatogynes, often are not. Ergatoids can exhibit wide morphological differences between species, sometimes appearing almost identical to normal workers and other times being quite distinct from both workers and standard queens. In addition to morphological features, ergatoids among different species can exhibit a wide range of behaviors, with some ergatoids acting only as reproductives and others actively foraging. Ergatoid queens have developed among a large number of ant species, and their presence within colonies can often provide clues on the social structures of colonies and as to how new colonies are founded. Without wings, almost all species of ants that solely produce ergatoid queens establish new colonies by fission.

== Nomenclature == The term ergatoid has been used to denote wingless reproductive ants since Margaret Holliday's 1903 paper, "A study of a few ergatogynic ants", although its current usage was suggested and more completely defined in the 1991 paper, "Ergatoid queens and intercastes in ants: two distinct adult forms which look morphologically intermediate between workers and winged queens", by C.P. Peeters. The paper, "Intercastes, intermorphs, and ergatoid queens: who is who in ant reproduction?" provided further definition and discussion of how certain "intermorphic queens" should be denoted in 1998.