myrmecophile
/ˈməːmɪkə(ʊ)fʌɪl
/ /məˈmiːkə(ʊ)fʌɪl/noun Biology
An invertebrate or plant which has a symbiotic relationship with ants, such as being tended and protected by ants or living inside an ants' nest.Regularly, part of these myrmecophiles stay behind when they miss an emigration of their host colony....
- In particular, he was interested in those other inhabitants of ant nests referred to as myrmecophiles.
- The principal collections are those of ants, termites and myrmecophiles, of grasshoppers and crickets and of butterflies.
Derivatives
myrmecophilous
- Here we discuss the myrmecophilous soft scales occurring in the Australian and Oriental regions.
- They thought that the unattended species had a secondary reduction of their myrmecophilous organs.
- These specimens prompted me to study this interesting myrmecophilous beetle.
myrmecophily
- As a group of interactions, the chemical ecology of mutualisms (i.e., pollination, myrmecophily, frugivory) is still poorly understood and is not well represented in the book.
- The implications of this observation and others are discussed with regard to the evolution of myrmecophily in T. virgilius.
- To understand the patterns of associations in the field we therefore need to measure the benefits and costs of myrmecophily both in the presence and in the absence of ants.
Origin
Late 19th century: from Greek murmēx, murmēk- 'ant' + -phile.