Specialized Predation on Arthropod Eggs in a Myrmicine Ant, Calyptomyrmex sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in the Oriental Tropics

Abstract

A colony of the rare myrmicine ant, Calyptomyrmex sp., was collected in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia. Laboratory observation suggested that the species is a highly specialized predator of arthropod eggs. Workers fed on arthropod eggs and often showed larval hemolymph feeding. The queen never fed directly on prey eggs but took nutrients mainly through oral trophallaxis from workers.