Formicidae

Also known as ant, ants, ant family

thumb|Bright red ant, likely part of the Formica pallidefulva species group, on a flower

OverviewAI-generated

Formicidae, commonly known as ants, is a family within the order Hymenoptera. The taxon was named after the genus Formica and has been studied by the field of myrmecology. It is classified under the kingdom Animalia, phylum Arthropoda, and class Insecta. The authority for this zoological name is Latreille, 1809. The group is considered an accepted family in taxonomic databases.

Records indicate that Formicidae has existed since about 140 million years ago. Scientific literature references the family in 12,344 PubMed entries. Biological occurrence data includes 3,932,178 records, with 49,231 specific records and 4,629 media items held by institutions such as UAN, LACM, CEDESU-UAC, and MHNCA in countries including Mexico and Germany. The topic appears in 4,703 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 41 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

ants

Formicidae

FAMILY

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderHymenoptera
FamilyFormicidae

Observations recorded3,932,178

關於香港歌手許廷鏗第三張單曲，請見「螞蟻 (單曲)」。蚂蚁，古代又稱馬蟻[1]或馬螘[2]是一種真社会性的昆蟲，属于膜翅目，膜翅目的其他昆蟲有胡蜂、黃蜂等。最早在1.3亿—1.1亿年前的白垩纪中期就出现了，可能是从侏罗纪出现的原始胡蜂演化而來，蚂蚁和胡蜂的主要区别是蚂蚁的触角呈膝状弯曲，腹部有腹柄節，而胡蜂的腹部則沒有。螞蟻屬完全變態，要經過卵、幼蟲、蛹等階段才發展為成蟲，大部分的物種在幼蟲階段沒有任何能力，它們也不需要，完全由工蟻喂養，工蟻要先把食物吃進去，然後再吐出來餵養幼蟲，成蟲之間也以這種方式交換食物，此行為稱作「交哺」（trophallaxis），幼蟲的發育需要一定合適的溫度，因此工蟻經常將它們搬來搬去，維持合適的生長環境，大部分螞蟻可粗分為三個階級：工蟻、雄蟻和蟻后，雌幼蟲發育成工蟻或是蟻后則取決於幼蟲階段的營養條件[來源請求]。蚂蚁一般都没有翅膀，只有雄蚁和處女雌蟻在交配时有翅膀，雌蚁交配后翅膀即脱落，雄蟻在交配後會死亡。当开花植物逐渐繁盛后，蚂蚁的种类开始多样化。除了南極洲及少數一些島嶼外，大部份的陸域生態系都有蚂蚁，佔陸生動物（英语：Terrestrial_animal）生物量的15–25%[3]。蚂蚁在許多生態系可以生存的原因之一是真社會性，以及營造適合的微棲地（蟻巢）、覓食及禦敵的能力。蚂蚁和其他物種的交互行為可以分為拟态、偏利共生、寄生及互利共生幾種[4]。螞蟻一般能扛起比自己重多倍的物件，這本能吸引了機械工程師的研究。蚂蚁的群體有分工、個體之間的溝通、以及解决问题的能力[5]。人類會將蚂蚁用作料理、藥用或是儀式用途，也有把螞蟻當成寵物飼養的人[6]。有些蚂蚁可以用於生物防治[7]。不過蚂蚁會破壞作物及侵入房屋內，也和人類的生活有些衝突。而其中入侵紅火蟻是著名的入侵物種之一。目录 1 蚂蚁的階級 1.1 蟻后 1.2 雄蟻 1.3 工蟻 1.3.1 兵蟻 2 形態描述 3 螞蟻习性 4 下轄亞科級分類元 5 蚂蚁种类 6 与蚂蚁有交互作用的生物（蟻客） 7 植物與螞蟻的關係 8 人類與螞蟻的關係 9 文化 10 注釋 11 參考頁目 12 外部链接蚂蚁的階級螞蟻是一種真社會性動物，其分工方式有二種，依照形態分化分工及依照年齡分工，形態多形性（morph polyethism）與年齡多形性（age polyethism），其群落成員分成多個形態「階級」，分别如下：蟻后主条目：蟻后有生殖能力的雌蟲，在群體中體型最大，特別是胸部大，生殖器官發達，腹部大，脫翅或無翅（大多是脫翅了的）。主要職責是產卵、繁殖後代。雖稱為「蟻后」，但根據長年研究螞蟻行為與生態的史丹福大學教授李家緯（Frank）在TED發布的報告，蟻后並不統治蟻群，蟻群是由每一個螞蟻個體的自行意志交織而組成的社會[8]。切叶蚁雄蚁和雌蚁（Atta sp.）

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 49,231
With media: 4,629
Family: Formicidae
Collections: UAN, LACM, CEDESU-UAC, MHNCA
Recorded in: Mexico, Germany

iDigBio →

Research

12,344 papers

Colour vision in ants (Formicidae, Hymenoptera).ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Yilmaz A, Spaethe JDOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0291
Battles between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a review.ReviewJournal of insect science (Online) · 2024Champer J, Schlenoff DDOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieae064
Limited female dispersal predicts the incidence of Wolbachia across ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).ReviewJournal of evolutionary biology · 2019Treanor D, Hughes WOHDOI: 10.1111/jeb.13510
Just say formicidae.Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology · 2005Freeman TMDOI: 10.1016/S1081-1206(10)61162-3
Storage proteins in ants (Hymenoptera:Formicidae).ReviewComparative biochemistry and physiology. Part B, Biochemistry & molecular biology · 1995Wheeler DE, Martínez TDOI: 10.1016/0305-0491(95)00035-7
A review of the ant genus Myrmecorhynchus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).ReviewZootaxa · 2015Shattuck SODOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3955.2.6
Integrated pest management concepts for red imported fire ants Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).ReviewInsect science · 2013Drees BM, Calixto AA, Nester PRDOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2012.01552.x
Comparative Meta-analysis Effects of Nonnative Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), and Bark and Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on Native Confamilials.Environmental entomology · 2021Hartshorn JA, Coyle DRDOI: 10.1093/ee/nvab017

via PubMed

~65 min read

Encyclopedic overview

33 sections

Contents

Etymology
Taxonomy and evolution
Distribution and diversity
Morphology
Head
Mesosoma
Metasoma
Polymorphism
Genome size
Life cycle
Reproduction
Nests, colonies, and supercolonies
Behaviour and ecology
Communication
Defence
Learning
Nest construction
Cultivation of food
Navigation
Locomotion
Cooperation and competition
Relationships with other organisms
Relationship with humans
As food
As pests
In science and technology
As pets
In culture
See also
References
Cited texts
Further reading
External links

thumb|Bright red ant, likely part of the Formica pallidefulva species group, on a flower

Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been described. They are easily identified by their geniculate (elbowed) antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Formicidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.