---
title: "What the sources say about the Army Ant | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "43 claims from the Army Ant profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/army-ant-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/army-ant/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Army Ant (*Eciton burchellii*)

> 43 claims from the Army Ant profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Army Ant](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/army-ant/)

## Eciton burchellii. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Eciton_burchellii/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Tropical forests of Central and South America | Eciton burchellii is found in the tropical regions of Central and South America ... they prefer heavily forested environments (note: stats.habitat; ADW 2005, range only) |
| Not Evaluated | IUCN Red List No special status (note: stats.conservationStatus. GBIF's Red List copy holds no category for Eciton burchellii and the prefetch found no assessment DOI, so no IUCN reference is cited. ADW says only that the species has no special status.) |
| lives in the tropical regions of Central and South America, and it prefers heavily forested places | is found in the tropical regions of Central and South America ... they prefer heavily forested environments |
| Its workers come in many sizes, from 3 to 12 millimetres long. | are polymorphic, worker sizes range from 3mm to 12mm (note: ADW 2005; size only) |
| They have long, hook-shaped jaws, and tiny hooks on their feet that they use to grip each other as they form bridges and nests. | They have long, pointed, falcate (hook-shaped) mandibles ... On their feet are tarsal hooks, which they use to grip each other as they form bridges and bivouacs |
| Queens have no wings. | Eciton queens are unusual in that they do not have wings |
| Animal Diversity Web lists tarantulas, scorpions and cockroaches too. | with tarantulas, scorpions, beetles, roaches, grasshoppers (note: ADW cites Schneirla 1956 and Franks 1987 for the diet; cockroaches and crickets predominate in the dry season (same account)) |
| The ants subdue prey with stings and pull off legs and antennae with their jaws. | They subdue prey with powerful stings, while also pulling off legs and antennae using mandibles made for pinching and gripping |
| Workers have a well-developed sting. | Workers have single faceted, compound eyes, double segmented waists, and a well-developed sting |
| Animal Diversity Web calls it painful. | E. burchellii has a painful sting |
| The same account says the species does not frequently come into contact with people. | this species does not frequently come into contact with people |
| dangerLevel: Medium | E. burchellii has a painful sting (note: stats.dangerLevel; painful but rarely in contact with people) |
| tags: venomous | injures humans bites or stings venomous venomous (note: tags; ADW marks the species venomous) |

## Kunhart & Willson (2024). Intercolony Avoidance Optimizes Foraging in Eciton burchellii Army Ants. Sociobiology.

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v71i2.10104

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A colony of up to a million sisters that clings together as a living nest, then raids the forest floor as a fan-shaped army. | colonies that number up to a million haplodiploid sisters ... the colony creates a bivouac (or nest) composed of bodies of individual colony members ... raiding as a fan-shaped “army” along a path across the forest floor (note: tagline) |
| Social ants and a wide variety of other arthropods | The colony then subdues and transports a wide variety ... of social and non-social arthropods back to the bivouac for consumption; more than 50% of its diet is social ant prey (note: stats.diet) |
| Builds its nest out of the bodies of its own workers | the colony creates a bivouac (or nest) composed of bodies of individual colony members at a protected site, such as a hollow tree (note: stats.superpower) |
| A colony can number up to a million sisters. | colonies that number up to a million haplodiploid sisters |
| The colony's temporary nest, called a bivouac, is built from the bodies of its own members at a protected site such as a hollow tree. | the colony creates a bivouac (or nest) composed of bodies of individual colony members at a protected site, such as a hollow tree |
| Within the bivouac, a single queen lays up to 300,000 eggs in a few days. | Within the bivouac, a single queen lays up to 300,000 eggs in a few days. |
| On some days in its settled phase, the colony picks a direction at dawn and raids as a fan-shaped "army" across the forest floor. | Sporadically, during the statary phase, the colony forages during the day by choosing a direction at dawn and raiding as a fan-shaped “army” along a path across the forest floor |
| Large raids can sometimes be more than 30 metres wide. | large colony raids can sometimes exceed 30 m in width |
| The colony subdues and transports a wide variety of social and non-social arthropods back to the bivouac for consumption. | The colony then subdues and transports a wide variety ... of social and non-social arthropods back to the bivouac for consumption |
| More than 50% of its diet is social ant prey. | more than 50% of its diet is social ant prey |
| In the nomadic phase that follows, colonies at a study site in Peru raided in one direction for an average of 78 metres and set up a new bivouac almost every night. | A nomadic phase follows ... where the colony raids in one direction for an average of 78 m ... and establishes a new bivouac almost every night (note: average from Cocha Cashu, Manu National Park, Peru (n = 351 raids)) |
| At a study site in Manu National Park, Peru, colonies sat at one bivouac for an average of 21 days. | remain in the statary phase for an average of 21 days, based on observations at Cocha Cashu Biological Station (EBCC), Manu National Park, Peru (note: FAQ) |
| That fits the timing of egg and larval development within the nest. | The statary phase thus follows the timing of egg and larval development within the nest (note: FAQ) |
| Then a nomadic phase began, with a move to a new bivouac almost every night. | A nomadic phase follows ... establishes a new bivouac almost every night (note: FAQ) |
| Hooks, jaws and up to a million sisters | colonies that number up to a million haplodiploid sisters (note: heading) |
| A raid sweeps the forest floor as a fan-shaped army | raiding as a fan-shaped “army” along a path across the forest floor (note: vibe.reason) |
| large raids can sometimes be more than 30 metres wide | large colony raids can sometimes exceed 30 m in width (note: vibe.reason) |

## Powell & Franks (2005). Caste evolution and ecology: a special worker for novel prey. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3196

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Researchers report that this is the only Eciton that preys on large arthropods as well as ants. | This species is the only Eciton that preys upon large arthropods as well as ants |
| It also has submajors, an exaggerated transport caste that specialise in carrying non-ant prey. | an exaggerated transport caste, or 'submajor' ... E. burchellii submajors are highly specialized on transporting non-ant prey |

## Kaspari et al. (2011). Predation and patchiness in the tropical litter: do swarm-raiding army ants skim the cream or drain the bottle? Journal of Animal Ecology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01826.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A study of leaf-litter invertebrates in four countries found that, contrary to its popular image, this species did not consistently reduce their biomass. | In Ecuador, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Panama, patches of forest floor were sampled for litter invertebrates immediately before and after army ant raids ... Contrary to Eciton's popular image, only Labidus consistently reduced the biomass of litter invertebrates |
| Its impact was concentrated on rich patches of invertebrates. | Eciton's impacts were concentrated on rich patches of invertebrates |

## Brumfield et al. (2007). Phylogenetic conservatism and antiquity of a tropical specialization: Army-ant-following in the typical antbirds (Thamnophilidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2007.07.019

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| They prey on arthropods and small vertebrates flushed from the forest floor by the swarm. | birds prey upon arthropods and small vertebrates flushed from the forest floor by swarm raids of the army-ant Eciton burchellii |
| One group, the typical antbirds, includes species that appear incapable of foraging independently of swarms. | (3) those that appear incapable of foraging independently of swarms (obligate followers) |
| Molecular dating indicates that army-ant-following has persisted in antbirds since the late Miocene. | molecular dating indicates that army-ant-following has persisted in antbirds since the late Miocene |
| Some Neotropical birds follow these raids. | One of the most novel foraging strategies in Neotropical birds is army-ant-following |

## Kronauer et al. (2006). A reassessment of the mating system characteristics of the army ant Eciton burchellii. Naturwissenschaften.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0121-2

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A reanalysis of genetic data found a mean queen-mating frequency of 12.9 males, which the authors called very high. | Mating frequencies in E. burchellii are indeed very high (mean observed and effective queen-mating frequencies of 12.9 each) (note: FAQ) |
| The same study genotyped successive generations of workers from one old queen and found no evidence that she had mated again. | we found no evidence for repeated mating by genotyping sequential worker generations produced by a single old queen, showing that she did not obtain new inseminations despite ample opportunities for mating (note: FAQ) |

## Meisel (2006). Thermal Ecology Of The Neotropical Army Ant Eciton Burchellii. Ecological Applications.

https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[0913:teotna]2.0.co;2

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Heat. In Costa Rican forest fragments, colonies avoided entering open pasture in full sun, at 51.3 degrees Celsius, at every edge they met, but readily crossed where artificial shade had been put up. | E. burchellii colonies in forest fragments avoided entering open pasture in full sun (51.3 degrees C) on 100% of all edge interactions; however, edges were readily crossed where artificial shaded areas had previously been installed (note: FAQ) |
| Captive ants held at 43 degrees survived 18.5 minutes. | Captive ants held at 43 degrees C survived 18.5 min (note: FAQ) |
| In primary forest, raids avoided spots heated above 43 degrees, though they tolerated 45.5 degrees when prey baits were there. | Ant raids in primary forest avoided artificially established temperatures >43 degrees C but tolerated 45.5 degrees C in the presence of prey baits (note: FAQ) |