Inquilinism

Inquilines are permanent parasites of other ants, but without slavery. They depend on workers of other ant species for their development and growth.

Workers in inquilines species can be present or absent. In workerless inquilines, queens are entirely dependent on their hosts for food and their eggs are cared for and raised to maturity by the host workers.

The biology of Tetramorium inquilinum provides natural history information about one representative workerless inquiline ant.