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 classified.

The Formicinae are a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development. Formicines retain some primitive features, such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and little tendency toward reduction of palp or antennal segmentation in most species, except subterranean groups.

2023年10月29日 · Most species forage in warm, humid weather, diurnally in cooler and moister climates, mostly nocturnally in deserts. Ants retreat into the nest from cold or extreme, especially dry, heat. Prenolepis is exceptional in foraging mainly in the cooler months, even on warm days in winter. Winged reproductive castes are reared in spring or summer.

Approximately, 12,000 species of ants (Formicidae) are documented worldwide; however, scientists estimate that closer to 15,000 actually exist. Within this family, there are about 21 subfamilies and 283 genera. This family of insects is highly diverse.

2025年1月15日 · ant, (family Formicidae), any of approximately 10,000 species of insects that are social in habit and live together in organized colonies. Ants occur worldwide but are most numerous, both in numbers and in species, in tropical and subtropical regions.

They are most often placed into one of two groups: the wingless workers and winged swarmers. The swarmers include both males and females. They will reproduce to continue the species. Order: Hymenoptera.

2019年12月4日 · The Formicidae is an unequivocally monophyletic group, previously defined by Bolton (1994, 2003) as eusocial, sexually dimorphic aculeate Hymenoptera bearing metapleural glands and geniculate antennae, among other characters.

Formicidae: The wood-attacking carpenter ants, belonging to the genus Camponotus, are social insects that have queens, winged males, and workers of varying sizes in a given colony (Simeone, 1954; Furniss, 1944).

2024年10月3日 · Ward et al. (2016) - The ant subfamily Formicinae is a large and successful group, comprising about 3030 described species, distributed globally across a wide range of terrestrial environments (Brown 2000; Bolton 2003; AntCat 2015).

An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information.