Honey pot

Definition

A specialized worker ant, called a **replete**, whose abdomen becomes greatly distended with stored liquid food (nectar, honeydew, or plant exudates), serving as a living food reservoir for the colony during times of scarcity. The term refers both to the individual ant and, by extension, to the storage behavior itself.

Etymology

From the resemblance of the swollen, translucent abdomen to a small vessel filled with honey.

Example

In *Myrmecocystus mexicanus*, young workers become honey pots after receiving large quantities of nectar from foragers; they hang motionless from the nest ceiling, their amber-filled abdomens visible through the cuticle, and regurgitate food to nestmates when surface foraging is impossible during drought or winter.

Synonyms

• Replete
• plerergate

Related Terms

• Replete
• Trophallaxis
• social stomach
• crop distension
• myrmecophyte
• extrafloral nectary

Usage Notes

In entomological literature, "replete" is the more formal term for the caste; "honey pot" is common in popular and pedagogical contexts. Not all repletes store honey—some store water or other liquids. The condition is reversible in some species (workers can return to normal duties after unloading) but permanent in others. Contrast with **crop** (temporary individual storage) and **granary** (seed storage by harvester ants).