Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The branch of entomology that deals with ants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That branch of entomology which treats of ants.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun zoology The study of ants.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek myrmeco- (“ant”) + -logy (“study (of)”).

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Examples

  • To me, an even bigger surprise than this is that field biology field myrmecology to be precise is also opening up to the browser-bound mouse potatoes of the world.

    Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Democratizing science with Antweb 2006

  • These are observations and anecdotes not about the ants, but about the scientists who study them, about the personal experience of myrmecology.

    The fire ants are coming 2006

  • Wilson for his part was strong on myrmecology, on biogeography, and on speciation theory.

    The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

  • Wilson for his part was strong on myrmecology, on biogeography, and on speciation theory.

    The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

  • NSF is the primary source of support in this country for basic science, including myrmecology.

    Myrmecos Blog 2010

  • Without a solid understanding of male characters and male variation, it's all too easy to misplace male specimens. myrmecology | 3 Comments

    WordPress.com News 2009

  • And if you kill a few million ants this winter, it's OK with Philip Ward, a University of California, Davis, professor who specializes in myrmecology, or ant biology.

    ScrippsNews 2009

Comments

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  • The study of ants.

    March 6, 2007

  • Last and greatest of all outstanding students of ants has been Wheeler, whose broad interests and intensely investigative outlook, at once both warmly human and accurately scientific, have left no phase of Myrmecology untouched.

    - Caryl P. Haskins, Of Ants and Men, 1939, p. 4

    December 4, 2008

  • Yarb, if you're still enjoying all things myrmecological, I'd reccomend The Ants by Bert Hölldobler & Edward O. Wilson.

    December 12, 2008

  • Thanks triv, I might ask Father X for that. I'd quite like a more up-to-date book than Haskins's.

    December 12, 2008

  • Also, Journey to the ants by the same authors, a more easily readable (and more train-friendly) version. Recommended.

    December 12, 2008

  • Thank you! That looks great. I'm not sure I can commit to the massive (and brilliantly-titled) The Ants just yet. When I've got my own formicary up and running, then I'll get the big book.

    December 12, 2008