Living jars
Some workers are fed nectar until their abdomens swell like grapes. They hang from the roof of the nest, storing food for everyone.
The desert · Bees, wasps and ants
Honeypot ant
Myrmecocystus
An amber-brown ant. Some workers are so swollen with nectar that their abdomens are round, shiny and see-through.
- Size
- Workers about 1cm; a full honeypot up to the size of a grape
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Deserts of the south-western United States and Mexico
Waddles after you with its heavy load. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Honeypot ant
Good to know
Six things about the honeypot ant
Food on request
When food runs short, other ants stroke a honeypot's antennae and it brings up a drop of nectar for them.
Deep underground
The honeypots hang in chambers a metre or more down, where it is cool. They never leave.
A desert sweet
People in the deserts of America and Australia have long dug them up and eaten them as a treat.
They are worth stealing
Rival colonies raid each other and carry off the honeypots.
Invented more than once
Ants in Australia, Africa and America have each come up with the same idea on their own.
The real thing
Photos of the honeypot ant
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
You will only see the ordinary workers, running over the ground in the early morning and evening. The honeypots stay below.
How to help
Digging out a nest destroys years of stored food. A photograph of the workers is the kinder souvenir.
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