Ecitoninae

Ecitoninae is an ant subfamily.

Ecitoninae
Eciton burchellii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ecitoninae
Tribes and genera
See text

They are carnivorous ants that are characterized by organizing periodic expeditions of thousands of individuals. They do not build colonies and have a constantly moving way of life. Some birds regularly follow these expeditions in order to find insects and other small animals that try to escape the attack of ants.

Distribution

They are found in America, from the southern United States to northern Argentina.

Ecology

This group of ants (with Aenictinae and Dorylinae subfamilies) they represent the nomadic ants that do not build anthills, and constantly go from one camp to another, at the same time carrying with them all the food for the larvae, which consists of prey of the invertebrates they attack.

Tribes and genera

It contains 156 species in 5 genera.

• Tribe Cheliomyrmecini
  • Cheliomyrmex - 4 spp.
• Tribe Ecitonini
  • Eciton - 10 spp.
  • Labidus - 10 spp.
  • Neivamyrmex - 130 spp.
  • Nomamyrmex - 2 spp.

References

• Bolton B. (1992). A new general catalogue of the ants of the world, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
• Brady, S. (2003). Evolution of the army ant syndrome: the origin and long-term evolutionary stasis of a complex of behavioral and reproductive adaptations. PNAS 100(11): 6575-6579.