Polyergus
E407120
Polyergus is a genus of so-called “slave-making” ants known for raiding other ant colonies to capture workers that will serve their own nests.
All labels observed (5)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Polyergus rufescens | 2 |
| Polyergus canonical | 1 |
| Polyergus breviceps | 1 |
| Polyergus lucidus | 1 |
| Polyergus mexicanus | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3994977 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Polyergus Context triple: [Formicinae, containsTaxon, Polyergus]
-
A.
Lasius
Lasius is a genus of small, often soil-dwelling ants commonly found in temperate regions, known for tending aphids for honeydew and forming large, populous colonies.
-
B.
Lasius niger
Lasius niger is a common European black garden ant species known for forming large colonies and nesting in soil, lawns, and under stones.
-
C.
Alphaeus
Alphaeus is a New Testament figure mentioned as the father of James the Less, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.
-
D.
Melanippus
Melanippus is a minor figure in Greek mythology known primarily as a son of the Athenian hero Theseus.
-
E.
Attini
Attini is a tribe of New World ants best known for their advanced fungus-farming behavior and complex social organization.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Polyergus Target entity description: Polyergus is a genus of so-called “slave-making” ants known for raiding other ant colonies to capture workers that will serve their own nests.
-
A.
Lasius
Lasius is a genus of small, often soil-dwelling ants commonly found in temperate regions, known for tending aphids for honeydew and forming large, populous colonies.
-
B.
Lasius niger
Lasius niger is a common European black garden ant species known for forming large colonies and nesting in soil, lawns, and under stones.
-
C.
Alphaeus
Alphaeus is a New Testament figure mentioned as the father of James the Less, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.
-
D.
Melanippus
Melanippus is a minor figure in Greek mythology known primarily as a son of the Athenian hero Theseus.
-
E.
Attini
Attini is a tribe of New World ants best known for their advanced fungus-farming behavior and complex social organization.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
ant genus
ⓘ
taxon ⓘ |
| behavior |
dulotic (slave-making) raiding
ⓘ
obligate social parasite ⓘ raids nests of other ant species ⓘ |
| belongsTo | Formicinae genera ⓘ |
| class | Insecta ⓘ |
| colonyDependence | depends on captured workers of other species for brood care and foraging ⓘ |
| colonyStructure | mixed-species worker force (Polyergus plus host species workers) ⓘ |
| commonName | slave-making ants ⓘ |
| communication | uses chemical cues during raids ⓘ |
| describedBy | Pierre André Latreille ⓘ |
| distribution |
Asia
ⓘ
Europe ⓘ Holarctic region ⓘ
linked to:
Palearctic realm
North America ⓘ |
| ecologicalRole | social parasite of other ant communities ⓘ |
| family | Formicidae ⓘ |
| foraging | relies on host workers for foraging ⓘ |
| genusEtymology | name derived from Greek meaning "much-working" or "very active" ⓘ |
| hasCharacteristic |
highly specialized mandibles for combat rather than nest maintenance
ⓘ
reduced ability of workers to feed themselves without host workers ⓘ |
| hasLifeHistoryTrait |
obligate dependence on host workers throughout colony life
ⓘ
raids primarily target brood (larvae and pupae) of host species ⓘ |
| hostIntegration | captured brood eclose as workers that adopt Polyergus colony odor ⓘ |
| kingdom | Animalia ⓘ |
| nesting | nests usually located in soil ⓘ |
| nonReproductiveCastes | workers ⓘ |
| notableSpecies |
Polyergus breviceps
ⓘ
linked to:
Polyergus
Polyergus lucidus ⓘ
linked to:
Polyergus
Polyergus mexicanus ⓘ
linked to:
Polyergus
Polyergus rufescens ⓘ
linked to:
Polyergus
|
| order | Hymenoptera ⓘ |
| parasitizes | Formica ⓘ |
| phylum | Arthropoda ⓘ |
| reproductiveCastes |
males
ⓘ
queens ⓘ |
| reproductiveStrategy | queen usurps host Formica colony ⓘ |
| researchUse | model organism for studying social parasitism in ants ⓘ |
| scientificField | myrmecology ⓘ |
| subfamily | Formicinae ⓘ |
| taxonRank | genus ⓘ |
| tribe |
Formicini
ⓘ
linked to:
Attini
|
| typeSpecies |
Polyergus rufescens
ⓘ
linked to:
Polyergus
|
| workerBehavior | workers specialize in raiding and cannot perform normal colony tasks effectively ⓘ |
| workerMorphology | workers have sickle-shaped mandibles adapted for fighting and carrying brood ⓘ |
| yearDescribed | 1804 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Polyergus Description of subject: Polyergus is a genus of so-called “slave-making” ants known for raiding other ant colonies to capture workers that will serve their own nests.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Polyergus
linked to: Polyergus
linked to: Polyergus
linked to: Polyergus
linked to: Polyergus