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Pachycondyla (informally “Pachy”): driver ant predation of, 86; foraging, 76, 85–86, 159; playing dead, 87; scouts, 159; stashing prey, 90; as termite specialists, 99

Paraponera clavata (bullet ants): navigation, 138–39; sting, 135; workers identifying each other individually, 237–38n32

parasites: ants as, 153–54, 252nn11, 21, 258n15; Bengalia (blowfly), 70; phorid fly, 183, 186, 256n72; tricking other species, 215. See also slaves and slavery

Paratrechina longicornis (crazy ants), 231

patches and patchiness: exploiting, 32, 82–83, 115, 119, 178, 239n247, 242nn21, 22; as terms for resource distribution, 82, 242n21;

patrollers: of disturbed trail, 27, 29, 51, 91, 183; finding new routes, 103; in predation and raid establishment, 91, 94, 105

pavilion nests, 119, 247n42

Pereira da Silva, Virgilio, 170

personality: of ant colonies, 225; of individual ants, 222

pesticides: herbicide use in lawns, 249n3; human crop resistance to, 200; insecticides detoxified by fungi, 172; fungicides in nectaries, 183; production by ants, 7, 192, 258n14; production by symbiotic fungi, 192, 200, 258n19

petiole (waist), 7, 234n1 (primer)

Pham-tu-Thien, 45

pharaoh ants (Monomorium pharaonis), 18

Pheidole (big-headed ants): dentata,245n3; foraging, 95; group transport by, 66; invasive species of, 208, 260n11; larvae food processing, 118; megacephala, 260n11; obscurithorax, 208; predation by Allomerus ants, 94, 95; response to fire ant attack,245n3; spadonia, 118; as successful genus, 122

Pheidologeton affinis, 106–7, 107, 244n21

Pheidologeton diversus. See marauder ants

Pheidologeton silenus, 25, 58–59, 61, 106, 236n4

pheromones: of Amazons, 164, 253n8; of Argentine ants, 212, 260n20; of dead ants, 74–75; defined, 18; electronic, 235n9; for exploratory trails, 31, 212, 237nn13, 14; glands producing, 30; of leafcutter ants, 18, 179; of marauder ants, 29, 30–31, 237nn13, 14; nest raiding guided by, 84; of pharaoh ants, 18; proximity vs., 20; for recruitment, 18, 29, 153; for recruitment trails, 18, 30, 31, 237n13; as “short range” signal flare, 115, 116, 153; slave raiding guided by, 164; strength/reinforcement of, 18; for trunk trails, 30, 31. See also communication; group identity; trails

phorid fly, 183, 186, 256n72

photographic methods, 36–38, 41, 126

pied babblers, recruitment by, 33

pioneer trees, 182, 187, 194

pioneer workers, 24, 32, 100, 237n14

pismires, 150

pitcher plants, 142–43, 142

plant architecture: exploiting for navigation, 138; intelligence and, 178; leafcutter trails compared to, 177–78

plant mutualisms: ant gardens, 121–22, 214, 247n3, 250n23, 261n8; ant plants vs. “looser” mutualisms, 249n34; leafcutter ants and, 194–95; mosaics and, 132; weaver ants and, 119, 124–26, 246n39, 248n22. See also ant plants

plants, leafcutter relationship with, 182, 194–95, 258–59nn25, 28, 30

plant trap, 196

pleometrosis, 61, 114, 209

Pogonomyrmex (harvester ants): barbatus, 132; maricopa, 190, 191; rugosus, 132

poison gland, 30, 34

polarized light, navigation with, 161, 164

policing: ponerine species and, 228; self-interest vs. common good and, 264n32

political power, 225, 228–29

polydomy, defined, 167

Polyergus. See Amazon ants

polygyny (multiple queens), 61, 113, 157, 167, 204, 219, 228, 245n10, 261n17

polymorphism: as competitive edge, 146; defined, 38; and discord within nest, 228; efficiency of, 240n6, 244n10; intelligence and, 144, 251n34; Pheidologeton, 4–5, 14, 14, 38–42, 57, 146, 238nn2, 5; size frequency distribution, 38–39, 238n5, 240n6, 244n10; and specialization, 38, 99–100, 174; and traffic flow, 75. See also castes; division of labor

Polyrhachis: defense, 127; socially parasitic form, 252n21; sokolova, 142; territory sharing with “exploding” ants, 127, 128

ponerines, 228–29, 263n19

population: agriculture facilitating large, 172–73, 196; of Amazon nests, 150; global, 1, 234n1 (intro.); as measure of success, 122–23, 247n5; of rainforest canopy, 133. See also size of society

predation. See carnivory; herbivory

primary consumers,