Myrmecology

Myrmecology is the scientific study of ants, a branch of entomology. The ant, its habits, behaviours and society have long fascinated man. Ancient Judaic and Greek moral tales both show that these societies had observed the behaviour of ants and related it to that of people. In many ways this social understanding of the ant world is what myrmecology is all about.

1 Definitions
2 Early Examples of human attempts to understand ant society
3 Later Studies
4 List of notable Myrmecologists
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Definitions

Myrmecochorous (adj.) dispersed by ants.

Myrmecophagous (adj.) feeding on ants.

Myrmecophile (n.) an organism that habitually shares an ant nest myrmecophilous adj., myrmecophily n.

[edit] Early Examples of human attempts to understand ant society

[edit] Jewish Mosaic Law

Said that any seeds found in the nests of ants must be given to the poor: In Southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries, there are numerous species of ants of the genera Phelidole and Messor which gather seeds and store them.

[edit] Solomon (Proverbs 6:6)

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise" This refers to the fact that the ants are hard workers. A sluggard being a lazy person, Solomon said to work as the ants work.

[edit] Pliny

Lauded the industry of the ant working through the summer nights.

[edit] Aelian

Claudius Aelianus admired the complex arrangements of the galleries and chambers in the nests of ants and compared these with the labyrinths of Greece and Crete.

[edit] Later Studies

This early wonder at such great industry in such a small creature resulted in the birth of Myrmecology, and the discovery that many of the features of the way of life of ants are similar to our own, and the extent of the great diversity of species which belong to the ant kingdom. The similarities between primitive ponerine ants found in different continents is an important pointer to the periods when land bridges were extant and also to the nature of the pre-ant.