polydomy

English

Etymology

From poly- + Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos, “house”) + -y.

Noun

polydomy (uncountable)

1. (entomology) The situation where an ant colony is established across multiple nest sites.
   • 1987, Jörg Eder, Chemistry and biology of social insects, page 35:

     Thus polydomy ensues when an entire colony breaks up into several nesting aggregations.

   • 1990, Bert Hölldobler, The Ants‎^[1], page 390:

     The outpost phenomenon probably accounts for many cases of polydomy, defined as the dispersal of the colony into multiple nest sites.

   • 1995, Andrew F. G. Bourke, Social Evolution in Ants‎^[2], page 187:

     Although this uncertainty exists, the lack of absolute male bias confirms that seasonal polydomy is not a major influence on the population sex ratio.

Antonyms

• monodomy

Derived terms

• polydomous