Honey ant is an ant known for the unique way in which it stores food. It is also called the honeypot ant. Worker honey ants feed nectar and other liquids to specialized workers, called honeypots or repletes. The ants pass these liquids from mouth to mouth. A replete stores the liquid inside its abdomen. The abdomen grows larger as the ant takes in more liquid, until it looks like a marble. The replete often hangs from the ceiling of the nest chamber. When other food is scarce, the replete regurgitates (spits up) the liquid to feed its nestmates.
About 30 species (kinds) of honey ants live in desert areas of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Some of these species are active at night and are light in color. Others are active during the day and are black or reddish.
Honey ants dig their nests in the soil. A mature colony includes several thousand worker ants. Usually, a single queen ant lays all the eggs from which new ants develop. Honey ant workers range in size from approximately 1/5 to 2/5 inches (5 to 10 millimeters) long. The largest workers often serve as repletes. The other workers care for the colony’s young, defend the nest, and search for food.
Honey ants feed on other insects. They also gather nectar and sap from plants as well as honeydew. Honeydew is a sugary fluid produced by small insects called aphids. Predators of honey ants include badgers and horned lizards.
Like many ants, honey ants fight over territory. In some species, the territorial battles involve tournaments, in which ants engage in displays to judge the size and strength of neighboring colonies. They walk around in a stiltlike position and wave their heads and abdomens. Following a tournament, large colonies sometimes raid smaller colonies by invading their nests and dragging off members to become “slaves” of the larger colony.
Other ants that store sugary liquids in their abdomens are found in Australasia and South Africa. However, they are not related to North American honey ants. Honey ant repletes have been valued as a sweet snack by native peoples.
