#honeypot ants

[mantismage]

Honeypot ants are fascinating, but feel like something that in concept, is terrifying. And would definitely be a plotline in a Mad Max movie.

These are specalised worker ants that deliberately consume huge amounts of food, to the point where their abdomens will swell to ridiculous sizes. The sclerites (the thickened keratin armour) on their abdomens will separate, revealing the honey inside of their abdominal membrane.

These ants will collect and store liquid which other ants in the colony will then consume, basically functioning as living larders. When they become big enough, they'll hang from the ceiling and can reach the size of a blueberry or a small grape:

They're mostly found in more arid areas of the world; in hot deserts, dry woodlands and other similar habitats (Australia, North Africa, some areas in the Americas etc.). Their existence is likely to allow for colonies to store food during extreme dry seasons, or during periods where food is scarce.

There's been some research indicating that honeypot ants contain unique antimicrobial properties within their honey, which has been used by indigenous people in Australia for centuries!

(Extra note: They also go by repletes or rotunds?? I love scientists.)

Resources and extra reading:

Conway, J. R. (1991). The biology and aboriginal use of the honeypot ant, “Camponotus inflatus” Lubbock, in Northern Territory, Australia. Australian Entomologist, 18(2), 49–56. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.108392124224680

Dong AZ, Cokcetin N, Carter DA, Fernandes KE. (2023). Unique antimicrobial activity in honey from the Australian honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) PeerJ, 11:e15645 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15645

National Geographic (2016). Honey Ant Adaptations. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20210120124043/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/honey-ant-adaptations-wbt/

[gummi-stims]

Could I get a uhhh...Dr.Wendell Tully stimboard

He can be either his raisined up form or pre raisining

@oleanderunderground

Woe, raisin man scientist be upon ye

🐜-🔬-🐜

👨‍🔬- x -👨‍🔬

🐜-🔬-🐜

[antvnger]

Oh wow, I’m your favorite? Thank you! Gosh that’s really nice of you to say! I appreciate that.

My favorite kind of ant? Oh dude that’s really hard to say. There’s so many amazing kinds of ants out there with different abilities and surprises and they’re all just so cool.

If I have to pick one though, I could go with the carpenter ant because they’re the ones who fly, and I rely on them a ton. And they’re super loyal and some I’ve found actually like to play. It’s fun.

I have seen honeypot ants before, but I’ve never seen any panda ants. Yet! They look pretty neat though, don’t they?

And yeah, actually, I’m friends with a lot of ants! I’m an honorary member of quite a few colonies 😁 so yeah I’ve totally got ant friends. @straight-zooted

[revretch]

So, how many people here know that honeypot ant repletes can't actually move? They're too fragile and would burst too easily, so they just live their lives in one place, serving as living drink dispensers for the other workers.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

A Sweet Time with the Honeypot Ant

Camponotus inflatus, better known as the Australian honeypot ant or the black honey ant, or the yarumpa or wuukurta ant among Aboriginal Australians, is one of the most well-known members of the honeypot ant group. As their name implies, they are endemic to Australia. They can be found throughout the continent, but are most common in the arid desert and scrubland regions of central Australia.

Honeypot ants, including the Australian honeypot ant, are best known for their specialized worker ants known as repletes. Other castes of workers go out to forage for nectar and honeydew, and bring it back to the colony where it is fed to the repletes. The abdomens of these individuals swell as they are fed, so that they can hold several times their weight in food. In times of shortages, this food can then be regurgitated and fed to the workers and larvae. In addition to its workers, each colony can contain multiple queens; some colonies have been recorded harboring up to 6 queens, presiding over 1,000 workers.

Visually the replete and forager workers are quite similar to each other. Both have black bodies with gold striped abdomens. However workers remain rather small, at only 5-8 mm (0.19 - 0.31 in) in length, while repletes can grow up to 1.4 g (0.03 oz) in weight and about 15 mm (0.59 in) in length. When their abdomens become swollen with honey, they turn transparent to show the amber liquid inside.

Black honey ant nests are most commonly found near or under vegetation, particularly the Mulga bush from which workers harvest most of their food. In addition co collecting nectar from the flowers, workers also collect honeydew secreted by the sap-sucking insects that live in the leaves and roots of the bush. C. inflatus in turn is predated upon by lizards and birds. Many Aboriginal peoples, especially the Tjupan, Mutitjulu, Anangu, Arrernte, and other groups in northern Australia, have also traditionally harvested Australian honeypot ants as a delicacy.

Conservation status: C. inflatus has not been assessed by the IUCN. Its populations are widespread and so believed to be stable. While traditional Aboriginal harvesting has not posed a threat, increased commercial harvest for its pharmaceutical properties may put increased pressure on this species.

Photos

Steve Shattuck

Jean & Fred Hort

Wang & Pan et al.

[darksilvania]

There is a fun mechanic on my region involving this 2 honey based mons. Depending on which one you have at the front of your party, you can attract certain pokemons to appear in the wild that wont show up normally.

MELIFÉE is based on a Honeypot Ant, they make their honey by eating flowers, herbs and spices, which make a very sweet honey with healing properties. They try to keep their honey as pure as possible, so they carve honey dippers and lids out of wood using their mandibles to handle their honey without touching it.

BEEKREEPER make their honey by consuming meat, usually from corpses, their honey has a very strong taste and strange properties, so it is not safe for human consumption without being properly harvested and purified.

If MELIFÉE is at the front of your party, it will attract JOLIBRI, the hummingbird moth pokemon, but if you have BEEKREEPER at the front it will attract BEEZZARD, the vulture bee pokemon

JOLIBRI have a friendly relationship with MELIFÉE, they often surround them and keep watch in case other pokemons want to attack them and steel their honey, in exchange MELIFÉE gives them free honey

similar to JOLIBRI and MELIFÉE, BEEZZARD has a symbiotic relationship with BEEKREEPER, where they bring them meat and receive the excess honey they produce

And regardless of wich one of the 2 you have on your party, you will attract this 2 randomly: NECTAROBER, the Honey thief pokemon (based on a bee beetle) and BUMBLBOOZ, the Brewer pokemon (based on a drunk bumblebee)

NECTAROBER loves honey but are unable to make any, so they try to steal it. They will mostly target MELIFÉE, but will also mug BEEKREEPER if the opportunity arises. They use the fluff on their bodies to look bulkier and more intimidating that they really are, but are actually pretty weak.

BUMBLEBOOZ doesnt care about where the honey comes from, because they dont eat it directly. They collect the honey, mix it with water and other herbs and store it so it can become mead, which they drink constantly, thats why they are always seen drunk.

[kaleidoru]

Fallen Angel Bear who gained Honeypot Ant traits on her Demonification........... also she is very Gay

[cconfusedkat]

Smth rlly stupid nd silly at the same time for the sake of self indulgency ,, just bc im always drawing Allure getting the short end of the stick i figured Hey Maybe I Can Show Their Piece-of-Shittery With Funny Ant Doctor

Sozo is literally just eating honey off a stick like a crazy man (lovingly) and he also happens to be germaphobic so you have absolutely zero idea on how repulsed he is when someone shares food with him SJDKDFJDK

(Allures hair & mini bell are like that just cuz no one was gonna see them for another fourteen days so it wasnt such a big deal they had to keep tying up their hair-)

And bonus images just cuz its my excuse to show my new sozo color palette faster than naught

Naughty lambs get LAMB AIR JAIL 🗣🗣🗣

[possiblydog]

hk oc moment

Shovin was once apart of the moth tribe, but when the infection arose, instead of facing his tribe in their collective crime of forgetting the radiance, he ran away and hid. He now passes as a Mosskin in Greenpath, and worships Unn. He is quiet, and finds shame with himself

Melphissa is a weaver who remained in Hallownest after the infection appeared. She makes garments enhanced/enchanted with weaver loom patterns that she spins herself. She is vain and prioritizes physical appearance, taking great pride in making garbs for those who ask.

Bieter is a Honeypot Ant who came from another nest. he gathers exotic or hard to find food (usually honey), and sells it to others as he travels. Bieter has a short fuse and doesnt entirely know when to back down, willing to take on foes or challenges far too big for him.

Hoggin doesnt remember their past. All they know is the Grimm troupe they've joined and their role as a performer. All they desire is to make people happy. They are cryptic and jovially antagonistic (but are truly joyful and carefree)

[the-daily-spider]

What is the best looking ant? The most beautiful good looking ant of them all?

(If you need ideas let me know I have many)

Do I really have to pick just one? There’s so many good ones. I picked a favorite but I also have like 3 runner-ups and even more special mentions. Sorry you’re getting 4x as many ants as you asked for!

Anyways! Number one… the absolute winner in my heart… is Oecophylla smaragdina. They’re just so gorgeous and their color palette is perfect and they have such fun body shapes. I also love it when ant queens look significantly different than their workers. The contrast is so pretty

…aaand now for the runner ups! First we have the green headed ant, Rhytidoponera metallica. They remind me of jumping spiders with how shiny they are

Next up is the silver spiny ant, Polyrhachis schlueteri!!! These guys are literally perfect. They look like little drops of mercury. Maybe I’m just biased towards shiny silver as a metalworker, but there’s nothing about this species that isn’t gorgeous

And last but never least, we have Polyrhachis trapezoidea. I’m already an absolute sucker for yellow, and these guys pull it off so amazingly well. This ant looks like it shops as Sephora and I love that for her

Alright bestie now it’s your turn. I need to know your opinions on ant beauty RIGHT NOW!!!

[eblu3]

@corysarchive put out a call to see if anyone wanted to draw their honeypot ant OC on twitter, and I said to myself "sure, why not"

[flame-shadow]

this is the wrong sweet treat Honeybed (and Pepsi) for @swizik [Attack #79]

[kettlechip-krispy-kreme]

a bug with a big ass got me thinking about insects with absolutely large abdomens like honeypot ants and blister beetles

[musiclovingmoth]

i got super inspired seeing a bunch of bug merch recently so i got to drawing :3 planning on making this into a shaker charm too

[ruckis-vandalizes]

a collection of new character refs I've been amassing

Spectators are an original species by @6clawdy6

[sadbisexualmusic]

Brennan’s character from the most recent episode of Game Changer is giving me Tramp Stamps flashbacks