Fine-art photographic collection

Tetramorium semilaeve (André, 1883)

An ant deceived by an aphid that chemically impersonates its larvae, enters the brood chamber and drinks the real larvae’s body fluids.

About this species

Tetramorium semilaeveAndré, 1883

Information reviewed15 July 2026

Tetramorium semilaeve is a Mediterranean ground ant with a remarkable web of parasites and mimics. It tends honeydew-producing aphids, yet the same aphid species can produce a predatory morph that infiltrates the ant nest.

Taxonomy

Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Myrmicinae · Tetramorium

Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15

Mediterranean Europe, North Africa and western AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.

Size

Workers are roughly 2.5–4 mm long.

Distribution

Mediterranean Europe, North Africa and western Asia

Habitat

Dry open ground, rocky soil, grassland, scrub and disturbed habitats.

Activity

Ground-active in warm weather, often nesting beneath stones.

Diet

Seeds, dead and live arthropods, nectar and honeydew.

Social structure

Soil colonies with hundreds to thousands of workers.

What makes this species remarkable?

The aphid Paracletus cimiciformis has a flat predatory morph that copies the ant larvae’s surface hydrocarbons; workers carry the impostor into the brood chamber, where it pierces and sucks real ant larvae.

The same aphid genome also produces a rounded mutualistic morph that lives outside the nest and pays the ants in honeydew — predator and partner are alternative bodies of one species.

Tetramorium semilaeve is itself exploited by the obligate slave-making ant Strongylognathus silvestrii, whose queen invades the colony and uses host workers to rear parasite offspring.

Sources and scientific references

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