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Myrmecophagy (from Ancient Greek múrmēx, "ant", and phageîn, "to eat") is a feeding behavior in animals, defined by the consumption of or —particularly as pertaining to those animal species whose diets are largely, or completely, composed of these insect types. Notable myrmecophages include the three genera of , , Numbat, , some , and , as well as some members of the order Carnivora such as the sloth bear of the Indian subcontinent and the aardwolf of Southern Africa.
The related habit of termite-eating is termitophagy; the two dietary habits often overlap, as these Eusociality insects live in similarly large, densely populated Ant colony or termite mounds, requiring specialised adaptations from any species that wishes to access them. Physical traits of myrmecophagous animals include long, sharp, often curved front for digging into nests or mounds.
The extinct Alvarezsauridae, a group of theropod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period, have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, with their short, robustly built arms with a single claw being interpreted as being used to break into colonial insect nests.
Mammals that specialize in myrmecophagy often develop similar adaptations for this niche; many have powerful and claws adapted to excavating the nests of ant or termite colonies from the earth, under bark, or deeper within wood. Most have Atrophy teeth and some have reduced jaws as well. Many have low basal body temperatures, an adaptation to the low energy content of ants and termites, and most have advanced olfaction to help them find prey.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, many zoologists saw these shared features as evidence of relatedness, and accordingly they classified the various species as a single order within Mammalia; the Edentata, though it quickly became evident that such a classification was mistaken (the species within the supposed order do not form a natural group). The features have come instead to be seen as examples of convergent evolution, for example, by Frank Evers Beddard in 1902. As genome sequences for various former members of Edentata have been published, genetic evidence has confirmed that its members are taxonomically distant. (2025). 9780128155073, Elsevier. ISBN 9780128155073 Myrmecophagy in mammals has evolved independently (convergently) at least 12 times, driven by the increase in availability of ants and termites: the biomass of these prey is over 10 times that of all wild mammals combined.
Various bugs, in the family Reduviidae feed largely or exclusively on ants. Examples include the genera Paredocla and Acanthaspis.
Some insects that feed on ants do so because they are Opportunism predators of small insects that run on the ground surface, of which ants are a large proportion. Remarkable examples of convergent evolution are certain species of the family Myrmeleontidae, largely Myrmeleon, the so-called ant lions, and the family Vermileonidae, in particular the genera Lampromyia and Vermileo, the so-called worm lions. Both of them are regarded with interest for their habit of constructing conical in fine sand or dust, at the bottom of which they await prey that has fallen in. Both throw sand to interfere with any attempts on the part of the prey to escape.
Myrmecophagy takes more forms than just eating adult ants; in the butterfly family Lycaenidae, during the later of caterpillar development, these larvae enter the nests of particular species of ants, eating the ants' eggs and larvae. Larvae of some species of flies, such as the genus Microdon in the family Syrphidae spend their entire immature lives in the nests of ants, feeding largely or entirely on the ant brood. Some specialise in feeding on the brood of particular species of ants. An example is the Coccinellidae Diomus; larvae of Diomus thoracicus in French Guiana specialise in the nests of the invasive ant species Wasmannia auropunctata.
Major predators of ants include other ants, especially the army ants and their close relatives. (1990). 9780674040755, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674040755 Some ants such as the raider ant Ooceraea biroi and the new world army ant Nomamyrmex are obligate myrmecophages, that is they exclusively eat other ants, while the swarm-raiding Eciton burchellii eat more or less all arthropods in their paths, including other ants (they are generalists). Primarily it is the and larvae, rather than adult ants, that are eaten. The ant species Megaponera analis is monophagous and feeds exclusively on termites.
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