noun
- A worker ant, especially a sterile female ant that performs labor for the colony.
Usage: technical; entomology; plural form of ergat or used as singular collective noun
Examples
- The ergates in the ant colony spend their days foraging for food and caring for larvae.
- Unlike the queen, ergates are sterile and do not reproduce.
- Biologists observed how ergates communicate through chemical signals.
- The ergates construct and maintain the intricate tunnel systems within the nest.
- In some ant species, ergates can live for several years.