Geographic Range
Prenolepis imparis
, commonly known as false honey ants, are found throughout most of the United States.
Their range stretches to southern Ontario in the North and Mexico in the South. False
honey ants are a native Nearctic species.
Habitat
False honey ants live in wooded areas, soil that contains clay, sand, and occasionally
under logs and rocks. Workers build nests deep underground. They build nests in shady
areas near the bottoms of trees. The nests often have many dead-end tunnels. Stretching
downward up to 3.6 meters, the nests of false honey ants are very deep. The nests
reach so far down in order to maintain a cool environment. In Florida, the nests are
deeper than those in the northern parts of their range.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- Terrestrial Biomes
- savanna or grassland
- chaparral
- forest
Physical Description
False honey ants workers are 2.5-3.5 mm in length. Queens are about 8 mm in length.
Male ants are 3-4 mm in length. They have light to dark brown colors. Queens are reddish-brown
in color and males are black in color. The head and abdomen are often darker than
the midsection. Their bodies are shaped like an hourglass. Reproductive ants have
wings.
Eggs are small, white, and shaped like cylinders. Larvae look like maggots. They are
small, curved, and covered in hairs.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- female larger
Development
False honey ants progress from egg to larvae, to pupa, and then to adult. Like other
ants, false honey ants undergo complete metamorphosis.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
Reproduction
False honey ants are a polygynous species. All queens lay eggs. One male mates with
multiple females. This species is the first North American species of ant to form
a mating swarm in the spring.
- Mating System
- polygynous
In late August to September, a single brood is produced once the queen's ovaries have
matured. The brood is made up of workers and reproductives. After overwintering, the
reproductives will leave the colony in early spring for their mating flight. The reproductives
form mating swarms. The swarms tend to gather on vegetation and on the trunks of trees.
- Key Reproductive Features
- seasonal breeding
- sexual
- oviparous
False honey ants use female reproductive care.
- Parental Investment
- female parental care
Lifespan/Longevity
Workers live for 1-2 years. Colonies can contain from 560-10,000 workers. Colonies
last from 7 to 9 years.
Behavior
False honey ants are specialized for foraging in cold temperatures. They forage at
temperatures between 45° and 60°F. They may be found gathering food at near-freezing
temperatures. During the warmer months, they will close off the entrance to the nest
and become dormant. They experience estivation during the hot summer months. They
will not leave the nest until the temperatures lower again. Depending on where they
live, their active period changes. In the southern parts of their range, they are
active between November and early April. False honey ants that live near the northern
parts of their range are active throughout the year, except for the summer months.
Reproductive false honey ants are able to fly. Once a food source has been found,
workers will mobilize and defend it from predators. They live in colonies that contain
up to 560-10,000 workers.
Communication and Perception
Not much information is known about the communication and perception of false honey ants. They likely use tactile, visual, and chemical channels of perception. Tactile, visual, and chemical methods of communication are possible.
Food Habits
False honey ants are generalist omnivores that prefer diets with a lot of proteins
and fats. Workers eat flowers that drip sap, honeydew, rotting fruit, and waste from
galls,
earthworms
, and
arthropods
.
- Primary Diet
- omnivore
- Animal Foods
- carrion
- insects
- terrestrial non-insect arthropods
- Plant Foods
- fruit
- Foraging Behavior
- stores or caches food
Predation
No information about predators was found.
Ecosystem Roles
False honey ants contribute towards soil aeration when they build their nests. They
consume flowers that drip sap, honeydew, rotting fruit, and waste from galls,
earthworms
, and
arthropods
.
- Ecosystem Impact
- soil aeration
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
False honey ants do not have any positive economic impacts.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
False honey ants are not a pest species, but they may enter buildings.
Conservation Status
Other Comments
Prenolepis imparis
are known as small honey ants, false honey ants, or native winter ants.
Additional Links
Contributors
Deena Hauze (author), Animal Diversity Web Staff.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- tropical savanna and grassland
-
A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
- savanna
-
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
- temperate grassland
-
A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
- chaparral
-
Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- polygynous
-
having more than one female as a mate at one time
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- female parental care
-
parental care is carried out by females
- sedentary
-
remains in the same area
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- carrion
-
flesh of dead animals.
- stores or caches food
-
places a food item in a special place to be eaten later. Also called "hoarding"
- soil aeration
-
digs and breaks up soil so air and water can get in
- omnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
References
McLeod, R. 2014. "Species Prenolepis imparis - False Honey Ant" (On-line). Bug Guide. Accessed July 10, 2020 at https://bugguide.net/node/view/27323 .
Talbot, M. 1943. Population studies of the ant, Prenolepis imparis (Say). Ecology , 24(1): 31-44. Accessed July 12, 2020 at https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy2.library.colostate.edu/stable/1929858 .
Tschinkel, W. 1987. Seasonal life history and nest architecture of a winter-active ant,Prenolepis imparis. Insectes Sociaux , 34: 143–164. Accessed July 10, 2020 at https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02224081 .
Wheeler, W. 1930. The Ant Prenolepis Imparis (Say.). Annals of the Entomological Society of America , 23(1): 1-26. Accessed July 12, 2020 at https://antwiki.org/wiki/images/3/38/WheelerW1930h.pdf .
Williams, J., A. Lucky. 2020. "Common name: winter ant, false honey ant" (On-line). Featured Creatures Entomology & Nematology. Accessed July 10, 2020 at http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/ants/Prenolepis_imparis.htm .