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swarmer

swarmer

8.6
An insect that leaves a nest to start a new colony
  • noun
  • /ˈswɔrmər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : reproductor
  • During the spring, swarming season begins, and the young swarmer termites leave their colony to find mates.

Examples

  • After several weeks, the swarmer honeybees emerge to establish new hives in search of fresh flowers.

  • Swarmers are winged termites called alates that take flight to mate and start new colonies.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The adult sets down on the substrate and this is the swarmer cell sitting down as an adult.

  • The naturalist explained how a swarmer forms when a portion of the colony splits off to create a new community.

Synonyms

fundatrix
vsswarmer
  • Specialized
9.9

A female aphid that produces the first young and starts a new colony

is any dispersing organism that forms a new colony not only the first mother

Surface Forms

swarmer singular
swarmers plural

Morphology

swarmer = swarm (transparent) = swarm + er

Standard agentive noun from the verb 'swarm' referring to an individual that swarms (e.g., an insect that leaves to form a new colony).

Etymology

Swarmer comes from swarm, which means 'to move together' as insects do when they leave a nest. In nature, 'swarmers' are the insects that go off together to start a new colony, so a swarmer is an individual that leaves the old group to found a new one.