Major and minor workers of the turtle ant Cephalotes pusillus engage in trophallaxis food-sharing behavior.

Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Major and minor workers of the turtle ant Cephalotes pusillus engage in trophallaxis food-sharing behavior.

Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Major and minor workers of the turtle ant Cephalotes pusillus engage in trophallaxis food-sharing behavior.

Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Major and minor workers of the turtle ant Cephalotes pusillus engage in trophallaxis food-sharing behavior.

Carrancas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
A worker (left) offers liquid food to a hungry young drone before he emerges from his cell.
Tapinoma sessile - odorous house ants
A queen honey bee solicits food from one of her daughter worker bees (Apis mellifera).

Urbana, Illinois, USA
Formica obscuripes nestmate workers engaging in trophallaxis, or the social sharing of liquid food.

Wisconsin, USA
Formica obscuripes nestmate workers engaging in trophallaxis, or the social sharing of liquid food.  This behavior does more than merely transfer food.  Ants also use it to pass chemical signals among each other, and research has shown that trophallaxis helps the colony maintain a cohesive identifying odor.

Wisconsin, USA
Tapinoma sessile - odorous house ants
Tapinoma sessile - odorous house ants
Tapinoma sessile - odorous house ants
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013