honey ant

honey ant

noun
any of several ants, especially of the genus Myrmecocystus, that feed on honeydew or nectar and store the excess juices in the bodies of certain worker ants.

Origin:
1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Honey ant is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

honey ant

any member of several different species of ant (family Formicidae; order Hymenoptera) that have developed a unique way of storing the honeydew, a by-product of digestion that is gathered mainly from the secretions of aphids and scale insects. A worker ant, fed by the others, is called a replete. The honeydew is stored in the replete's abdomen, which can become distended to many times its normal size. The replete hangs from the ceiling of an underground chamber, sometimes for months, until the ant colony needs the stored food. After stimulation, the replete regurgitates the sweet honeydew.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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