Species › Insects & Arthropods › Army Ant

Army Ant

Eciton burchellii

RareInsect & Arthropod
Illustration of Army Ant (Eciton burchellii)

The Army Ant is the iconic swarm-raiding ant of the American tropics, forming massive bivouac colonies of hundreds of thousands of workers that march in broad raiding columns overwhelming all invertebrates and small vertebrates in their path. The colony is nomadic, with no permanent nest — instead, workers link their own bodies together to form living structures. Certain antbird species follow army ant swarms to catch flushed prey.

Habitat
Tropical and subtropical forests of southern North America and Central America
Diet
Adults and larvae: any invertebrates and small vertebrates in their path
How common
Rare

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