Myrmecophagy

File:Gr. Ameisenbär auf Futtersuche.JPG (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) reflect its feeding habits.]]

Myrmecophagy (from Ancient Greek μύρμηξ múrmēx, "ant", and φαγεῖν phageîn, "to eat") is a feeding behavior in animals, defined by the consumption of termites or ants—particularly as pertaining to those animal species whose diets are largely, or completely, composed of these insect types. Notable myrmecophages include the three genera of anteaters, aardvarks, some armadillos, and pangolins, as well as some members of the order Carnivora such as the sloth bear of the Indian subcontinent and the aardwolf of Southern Africa.

The related habit of termite-eating is termitophagy; the two dietary habits often overlap, as these eusocial insects live in similarly large, densely populated ant colonies or termite mounds, requiring specialised adaptations from any species that wishes to access them. Physical traits of myrmecophagous animals include long, sharp, often curved front claws for digging into nests or mounds.

Vertebrates

File:Picus viridis sharpei 115.jpg eating ants]]

Myrmecophagy is found in several land-dwelling vertebrate taxa.{{sfn|Bequaert|1922|p=272}} Ant-eating reptiles include horned lizards.{{sfn|Bequaert|1922|pp=295–297}} Amphibians include frogs such as Dendrobatidae and Hylidae, while toads such as Bufo frequently eat ants; many other amphibians take variable quantities of ants in their diet.{{sfn|Bequaert|1922|pp=285–287}} Ant-eating birds include several species of woodpeckers and the New World flickers and the Neotropical antthrushes which prey on columns of foraging Ecitonini ants, while many other insectivorous birds occasionally eat ants.{{sfn|Bequaert|1922|pp=297–314}} Mammals whose diets consist largely of ants and termites include monotremes such as echidnas, marsupials such as numbats, and placental mammals – anteaters, aardvarks, armadillos, and pangolins.{{cite book |last=Reiss |first=Karen Zich |title=Feeding |chapter=Feeding in Myrmecophagous Mammals |publisher=Elsevier |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-12-632590-4 |doi=10.1016/b978-012632590-4/50016-2 |pages=459–485}}

The extinct alvarezsaurids, a group of theropod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period, have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, with their short, robustly built arms with a single claw being interpreted as being used to break into colonial insect nests.{{cite journal |last1=Qin |first1=Zichuan |last2=Zhao |first2=Qi |last3=Choiniere |first3=Jonah N. |last4=Clark |first4=James M. |last5=Benton |first5=Michael J. |last6=Xu |first6=Xing |date=July 2021 |title=Growth and miniaturization among alvarezsauroid dinosaurs |journal=Current Biology |volume=31 |issue=16 |pages=3687–3693.e5 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.013 |pmid=34233160 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021CBio...31E3687Q }}

Mammals that specialize in myrmecophagy often develop similar adaptations for this niche;{{Cite journal |last=Reiss |first=Karen Zich |date=June 2001 |title=Using Phylogenies to Study Convergence: The Case of the Ant-Eating Mammals |journal=American Zoologist |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=507–525 |doi=10.1093/icb/41.3.507 |issn=0003-1569 |doi-access=free }}{{cite book |title=Feeding |last=Reiss |first=Karen Zich |editor-first=Kurt |editor-last=Schwenk |chapter=Feeding in Myrmecophagous Mammals |date=2000 |doi=10.1016/b978-012632590-4/50016-2 |isbn=978-012632590-4 |pages=459–485 |publisher=Elsevier}} many have powerful forelimbs and claws adapted to excavating the nests of ant or termite colonies from the earth, under bark, or deeper within wood. Most have reduced teeth and some have reduced jaws as well. Many have low basal body temperatures, an adaptation to the low energy content of ants and termites,{{cite journal |last1=Barker |first1=J. M. |last2=Cooper |first2=C. E. |last3=Withers |first3=P. C. |last4=Nicol |first4=S. C. |date=May 2016 |title=Reexamining Echidna Physiology: The Big Picture forTachyglossus aculeatus acanthion |journal=Physiological and Biochemical Zoology |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=169–181 |doi=10.1086/686716 |pmid=27153127 |s2cid=5809581 |issn=1522-2152 |url=http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116924 |hdl=20.500.11937/14175 |hdl-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last=McNab |first=Brian K. |date=August 1984 |title=Physiological convergence amongst ant-eating and termite-eating mammals |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=203 |issue=4 |pages=485–510 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1984.tb02345.x}} and most have advanced olfaction to help them find prey. Practically all have long, sticky tongues.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, many zoologists saw these shared features as evidence of relatedness, and accordingly they classified the various species as a single order within Mammalia; the Edentata, though it quickly became evident that such a classification was mistaken (the species grouped within the order don't form a natural group), and the features came to be seen as examples of convergent evolution, for example, by Frank Evers Beddard in 1902.{{cite book |last=Beddard |first=Frank Evers |author-link=Frank Evers Beddard |editor1-last=Harmer |editor1-first=Sir Sidney Frederic |editor2-last=Shipley |editor2-first=Arthur Everett |editor3-last=Gadow |editor3-first=Hans |series=The Cambridge Natural History |volume=10 |title=Mammalia |publisher=Macmillan Company |date=1902 }} As genome sequences for various former members of Edentata have been published,{{Cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Shao-Chen |last2=Liu |first2=Chun-Bing |last3=Yao |first3=Xue-Qin |last4=Hu |first4=Jing-Yang |last5=Yin |first5=Ting-Ting |last6=Lim |first6=Burton K. |last7=Chen |first7=Wu |last8=Wang |first8=Guo-Dong |last9=Zhang |first9=Cheng-Lin |last10=Irwin |first10=David M. |last11=Zhang |first11=Zhi-Gang |last12=Zhang |first12=Ya-Ping |last13=Yu |first13=Li |display-authors=5 |date=2022-08-24 |title=Hologenomic insights into mammalian adaptations to myrmecophagy |journal=National Science Review |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=nwac174 |doi=10.1093/nsr/nwac174 |pmid=37124465 |issn=2095-5138 |pmc=10139702 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Choo |first1=Siew Woh |last2=Rayko |first2=Mike |last3=Tan |first3=Tze King |last4=Hari |first4=Ranjeev |last5=Komissarov |first5=Aleksey |last6=Wee |first6=Wei Yee |last7=Yurchenko |first7=Andrey A. |last8=Kliver |first8=Sergey |last9=Tamazian |first9=Gaik |last10=Antunes |first10=Agostinho |last11=Wilson |first11=Richard K. |last12=Warren |first12=Wesley C. |last13=Koepfli |first13=Klaus-Peter |last14=Minx |first14=Patrick |last15=Krasheninnikova |first15=Ksenia |display-authors=5 |date=2016 |title=Pangolin genomes and the evolution of mammalian scales and immunity |journal=Genome Research |volume=26 |issue=10 |pages=1312–1322 |doi=10.1101/gr.203521.115 |pmid=27510566 |issn=1088-9051 |doi-access=free |pmc=5052048 }} genetic evidence has confirmed that its members are taxonomically distant.{{cite book |last1=Gaubert |first1=Philippe |title=Pangolins |chapter=Phylogeny and systematics |date=2020 |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-815507-3.00002-2 |pages=25–39 |isbn=978-0-12-815507-3 |publisher=Elsevier |last2=Wible |first2=John R. |last3=Heighton |first3=Sean P. |last4=Gaudin |first4=Timothy J. |s2cid=213774443 |editor-first1=Daniel W. S. |editor-last1=Challender |editor-first2=Helen C. |editor-last2=Nash |editor-first3=Carly |editor-last3=Waterman}}

Invertebrates

File:AntSpider.jpg spider eating an alate. The spider mimics the ant (Wasmannian mimicry) both to avoid predators (Batesian mimicry) and to deceive its ant prey (aggressive mimicry).]]

Ants are dangerous, being rich in distasteful and harmful compounds, which for other invertebrates makes them difficult prey, though ants are still widespread and plentiful, so members of several invertebrate taxa do feed on ants. Such ant predators include some spiders, such as species in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders), spiders in the family Oecobiidae and the family Theridiidae. While exclusive myrmecophagy (only eating ants) is not very common, there are some striking examples, such as the Australian ant-slayer spider Euryopis umbilicata that feeds almost exclusively on one species of ant.{{Cite journal |last1=Aceves-Aparicio |first1=Alfonso |last2=Narendra |first2=Ajay |last3=McLean |first3=Donald James |last4=Lowe |first4=Elizabeth C. |last5=Christian |first5=Marcelo |last6=Wolff |first6=Jonas O. |last7=Schneider |first7=Jutta M. |last8=Herberstein |first8=Marie E. |date=2022 |title=Fast acrobatic maneuvers enable arboreal spiders to hunt dangerous prey |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=119 |issue=40 |pages=e2205942119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2205942119 |pmid=36122198 |pmc=9546557|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022PNAS..11905942A }} Their difficulty as prey promotes the prevalence of ant mimicry for defence; these are myrmecomorphs and myrmecophiles. Myrmecomorph myrmecophages are Batesian mimics, giving them protection against predators which avoid ants, and access to abundant food.{{cite journal |last=Cushing |first=Paula E. |title=Spider-Ant Associations: An Updated Review of Myrmecomorphy, Myrmecophily, and Myrmecophagy in Spiders |journal=Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |volume=2012 |date=2012 |at=article 151989 |doi=10.1155/2012/151989 |doi-access=free }}

Various Hemipteran bugs, in the family Reduviidae feed largely or exclusively on ants. Examples include the genera Paredocla and Acanthaspis.{{cite journal |last1=Brandt |first1=Miriam |last2=Mahsberg |first2=Dieter |title=Bugs with a backpack: the function of nymphal camouflage in the West African assassin bugs Paredocla and Acanthaspis spp. |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=63 |issue=2 |date=February 2002 |pages=277–284 |doi=10.1006/anbe.2001.1910 |s2cid=53188464 }}

Some insects that feed on ants do so because they are opportunistic predators of small insects that run on the ground surface, of which ants are a large proportion. Remarkable examples of convergent evolution are certain species of the Neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae, largely Myrmeleon, the so-called ant lions, and the Dipteran family Vermileonidae, in particular the genera Lampromyia and Vermileo, the so-called worm lions. Both of them are regarded with interest for their habit of constructing conical pit traps in fine sand or dust, at the bottom of which they await prey that has fallen in. Both throw sand to interfere with any attempts on the part of the prey to escape.{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |author-link=Edward O. Wilson |title=Sociobiology: the new synthesis |url={{google books |id=v7lV9tz8fXAC |page=172 |plainurl=yes }}|access-date=24 May 2013 |year=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-00089-6 |pages=172–}}

Myrmecophagy takes more forms than just eating adult ants; in the butterfly family Lycaenidae, during the later instars of caterpillar development, these larvae enter the nests of particular species of ants, eating the ants' eggs and larvae.{{cite book |first1=Gregory R. |last1=Ballmer |first2=Gordon F. |last2=Pratt |title=A Survey of the Last Instar Larvae of the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) of California |url={{google books |id=JbxHXwAACAAJ |plainurl=yes }} |access-date=25 May 2013 |year=1988 }} Larvae of some species of flies, such as the genus Microdon in the family Syrphidae spend their entire immature lives in the nests of ants, feeding largely or entirely on the ant brood. Some beetles specialise in feeding on the brood of particular species of ants. An example is the coccinellid Diomus; larvae of Diomus thoracicus in French Guiana specialise in the nests of the invasive ant species Wasmannia auropunctata.{{cite journal|last1=Vantaux |first1=Amélie |last2=Roux |first2=Olivier |last3=Magro |first3=Alexandra |last4=Ghomsi |first4=Nathan Tene |last5=Gordon |first5=Robert D. |last6=Dejean |first6=Alain |last7=Orivel |first7=Jérôme |orig-year=13 January 2010 |date=September 2010 |title=Host-Specific Myrmecophily and Myrmecophagy in the Tropical Coccinellid Diomus thoracicus in French Guiana |journal=Biotropica |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=622–629 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00614.x |bibcode=2010Biotr..42..622V |s2cid=84022593 }}

Major predators of ants include other ants, especially the army ants and their close relatives.{{Cite book |last=Gotwald |first=William |title=Army Ants: the Biology of Social Predation |publisher=Comstock Publishing Associates |year=1995 |isbn=0801426332 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/armyantsbiologyo00gotw |page= }}{{cite book |last1=Hölldobler |first1=Bert |author1-link=Bert Hölldobler |last2=Wilson |first2=Edward O. |author2-link=E. O. Wilson |title=The Ants |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-674-04075-9 |page= }} Some ants such as the raider ant Ooceraea biroi and the new world army ant Nomamyrmex esenbecki are obligate myrmecophages, that is they exclusively eat other ants,{{Cite journal |first1=Scott |last1=Powell |first2=Ellie |last2=Clark |date=1 November 2004 |title=Combat between large derived societies: a subterranean army ant established as a predator of mature leaf-cutting ant colonies |journal=Insectes Sociaux |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=342–351 |doi=10.1007/s00040-004-0752-2 |s2cid=25945437 }} while the swarm-raiding Eciton burchellii eat more or less all arthropods in their paths, including other ants (they are generalists). Primarily it is the pupae and larvae, rather than adult ants, that are eaten. The ant species Megaponera analis is monophagous and feeds exclusively on termites.{{cite web |last1=Emmerich |first1=Robert |title=Matabele ants recognize infected wounds and treat them with antibiotics |url=https://phys.org/news/2024-01-matabele-ants-infected-wounds-antibiotics.html |website=Phys.org |access-date=12 May 2025 |date=2 January 2024}}

References

Sources

{{cite journal |last=Bequaert |first=Joseph |title=III. The Predaceous Enemies of Ants |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |year=1922 |volume=65 |pages=271–331 |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/bee_lab_ba/261}}

Category:Carnivory

Category:Ants

Category:Termites