Fine-art photographic collection

Myrmicaria brunnea (Saunders, 1842)

An ant that can turn a quiet forest floor into a fast-moving recruitment highway and overwhelm silkworms far larger than a worker.

About this species

Myrmicaria brunneaSaunders, 1842

Information reviewed15 July 2026

Myrmicaria brunnea is a South and Southeast Asian ant that constructs large subterranean nests and rapidly recruits nestmates to rich food. The photographed Bornean form was catalogued as M. brunnea flava.

Taxonomy

Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Myrmicinae · Myrmicaria

Accepted as Myrmicaria brunnea; the gallery title retains the infraspecific name flava. · checked 2026-07-15

South and Southeast Asia, from the Indian subcontinent through mainland Southeast Asia to BorneoBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.

Size

Workers are roughly 5–8 mm long.

Distribution

South and Southeast Asia, from the Indian subcontinent through mainland Southeast Asia to Borneo

Habitat

Forest, plantations, orchards and forest edges, usually nesting in soil near tree bases.

Activity

Foraging may concentrate in cooler periods; workers rapidly recruit when a rich food item is found.

Diet

Honeydew, scavenged material and live animal prey.

Social structure

Large underground colonies with conspicuous crater-like soil mounds and extensive foraging trails.

What makes this species remarkable?

Workers lay recruitment pheromone and can mobilise nestmates within minutes, allowing the colony to surround, cut up or cooperatively transport a food item before slower competitors arrive.

The species is a serious predator of the giant tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta: repeated biting and piercing by recruited workers can destroy larvae used in commercial wild-silk production.

Colonies excavate huge underground systems and pile removed soil into characteristic crater-like mounds, creating a visible landscape structure above a much larger hidden city.

Sources and scientific references