army ant
noun
: any of a subfamily (Dorylinae) of aggressive nomadic tropical ants that prey on insects and spiders
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Or army ants that span gaps on the forest floor by linking their own bodies into bridges. 
Quanta Magazine, 6 July 2017 The fact that army ants don’t always build the distance-minimizing bridge suggests there’s some other factor in their unconscious calculation. Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2018 But once in close range, the target is easy to spot: Huge swaths of army ants in search of food for their voracious young sometimes cover the length and almost half the width of a football field. Quanta Magazine, 9 Apr. 2014 An individual army ant is practically blind and has a minuscule brain that couldn’t begin to fathom their elaborate collective movement. Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2018 Instead, this tiny beetle -- only 1.5 millimeters long -- lives alongside a species of nomadic army ant. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 23 May 2018 It's named for Daniel Kronauer, a field biologist who studies army ants and discovered the species. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 23 May 2018 Nymphister kronaueri Anterior view of Nymphister kronaueri attached to an Eciton mexicanum army ant worker Image credit: © D. Kronauer. Sarah Gray, Fortune, 23 May 2018 The recent study grew out of experiments conducted with army ants in the Panamanian jungle in 2014. Kevin Hartnett, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2018 See More
Quanta Magazine, 6 July 2017 The fact that army ants don’t always build the distance-minimizing bridge suggests there’s some other factor in their unconscious calculation. Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2018 But once in close range, the target is easy to spot: Huge swaths of army ants in search of food for their voracious young sometimes cover the length and almost half the width of a football field. Quanta Magazine, 9 Apr. 2014 An individual army ant is practically blind and has a minuscule brain that couldn’t begin to fathom their elaborate collective movement. Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2018 Instead, this tiny beetle -- only 1.5 millimeters long -- lives alongside a species of nomadic army ant. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 23 May 2018 It's named for Daniel Kronauer, a field biologist who studies army ants and discovered the species. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 23 May 2018 Nymphister kronaueri Anterior view of Nymphister kronaueri attached to an Eciton mexicanum army ant worker Image credit: © D. Kronauer. Sarah Gray, Fortune, 23 May 2018 The recent study grew out of experiments conducted with army ants in the Panamanian jungle in 2014. Kevin Hartnett, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
1863, in the meaning defined above