Myrmecocystus depilis

Portal, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mendax

Honeypot ant with pupae. Chiricahua mountains, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

Honeypot ants have an unusual food storage system. Some members of each colony act as living receptacles known as "repletes", these ants become engorged with food and hang from the ceilings of chambers deep underground. Captive colony at the California Academy of Sciences

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

Honeypot ants have an unusual food storage system. Some members of each colony act as living receptacles known as "repletes", these ants become engorged with food and hang from the ceilings of chambers deep underground. Captive colony at the California Academy of Sciences

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

Honeypot ants have an unusual food storage system. Some members of each colony act as living receptacles known as "repletes", these ants become engorged with food and hang from the ceilings of chambers deep underground. Captive colony at the California Academy of Sciences

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

The distinctive nest entrance of the nocturnal honeypot ant Myrmecocystus mexicanus. Huachuca mountains, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

The distinctive nest entrance of the nocturnal honeypot ant Myrmecocystus mexicanus. Huachuca mountains, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

Mojave National Preserve, California, USA

Myrmecocystus mexicanus

This worker honeypot ant is slowly being consumed from within by a fungus, visible here as growths extruding from the body and appendages. As soil-dwelling creatures, ants are in constant battle against microbes that thrive in the warm, humid conditions of their nests. Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mimicus

Honeypot ant worker leaving the nest to forage. Sycamore Canyon, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mimicus

Honeypot ant worker leaving the nest to forage. Sycamore Canyon, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus mimicus

Myrmecocystus mimicus alate female, worker, and larva. Carrizo Plain Nat'l Monument, California, USA

Myrmecocystus mimicus

Honeypot ant worker. Note the exceptionally long maxillary palpi emerging backwards from the mouth- these are diagnostic for the genus. Green Valley, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus navajo

A night-active honeypot ant. Willcox, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus navajo

Myrmecocystus honeypot ant species come in three basic color patterns, depending on the time of day that they forage. The orange/yellow species such as this M. navajo are nocturnal. These ants were photographed leaving their nest entrance to forage shortly after dusk. Willcox, Arizona, USA

Myrmecocystus placodops

A large queen honeypot ant showing the wing scars on her thorax from her recent mating flight. Texas.

Myrmecocystus tenuinodis

Myrmecocystus tenuinodis is a small honeypot species that lives in sand dunes and is active in the mornings. Mojave National Preserve, California, USA

Myrmecocystus testaceus

Mojave desert, California, USA