Ants are a dominant family of eusocial terrestrial insects with a diversity of ecologies,
lifestyles and morphologies. Ant diet preferences range from strict carnivory through …

The fossil record allows a unique glimpse into the evolutionary history of organisms living on
Earth today. We discovered a specimen of the stem group ant† Gerontoformica gracilis …

The extraordinary success of social insects is partially based on division of labour, ie
individuals exclusively or preferentially perform specific tasks. Task preference may …

Bite forces play a key role in animal ecology: they affect mating behaviour, fighting success,
and the ability to feed. Although feeding habits of arthropods have a significant ecological …

It is generally assumed that Cretaceous stem ants were obligately eusocial, because of the
presence of wingless adult females, yet the available evidence is ambiguous. Here, we …

Insects evolved various modifications to their mouthparts, allowing for a broad exploration of
feeding modes. In ants, workers perform non-reproductive tasks like excavation, food …

The hypogaeic ant subfamilies Leptanillinae and Martialinae likely form the sister group to
the remainder of the extant Formicidae. In order to increase the knowledge of anatomy and …

Ants are highly polyphenic Hymenoptera, with at least three distinct adult forms in the vast
majority of species. Their sexual dimorphism, however, is overlooked to the point of being a …

Insects use their mandibles for a variety of tasks, including food processing, material
transport, nest building, brood care, and fighting. Despite this functional diversity, mandible …

The mesosoma is the power core of the ant, containing critical structural and muscular
elements for the movement of the head, legs, and metasoma. It has been hypothesized that …