Woodland seed-dispersing ants
Aphaenogaster spp.
Other
The workhorses of myrmecochory in eastern deciduous woodland. Many spring wildflowers attach a fatty appendage called an elaiosome to each seed; these ants carry the seed back to the nest, feed the appendage to their larvae, and discard the seed itself intact in a nutrient-rich chamber. The plant gets its seed buried, moved away from the parent, and out of reach of rodents.
Plants in the catalog
Specialist host plants · 3
An elaiosome-bearing seed dispersed by woodland ants (myrmecochory), which is how the plant spreads short distances through the forest floor.
An elaiosome-bearing seed dispersed by woodland ants (myrmecochory), which is how the plant spreads short distances through the forest floor.
Wild ginger seed carries an elaiosome; ants carry it to the nest, eat the appendage and discard the seed intact underground, which buries it away from the parent plant and out of reach of rodents.
Range
Deciduous woodland across eastern North America. This is a genus-level group entry: the eastern seed-dispersing species are the Aphaenogaster rudis complex, including A. rudis, A. picea, and A. fulva, which are difficult to separate in the field and are treated together here. Each image names the species shown.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Woodland seed-dispersing ants (Aphaenogaster spp.). Retrieved 2026, September 9, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/woodland-seed-dispersing-ants
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
GBIF: Aphaenogaster
GBIF backbone key 1315863 is the accepted genus record for Aphaenogaster in family Formicidae.
iNaturalist: Aphaenogaster
iNaturalist taxon 68931 is the active genus record; the three images on this page are research-grade eastern North American observations of A. fulva, A. picea, and A. rudis, used under their per-photo CC BY and CC0 licences.
Wikipedia: Myrmecochory
Reference for the elaiosome mechanism and the role of Aphaenogaster as the principal disperser in eastern North American woodland.
Wikipedia: Aphaenogaster
Genus-level reference for the rudis complex and its seed-dispersal behaviour. The per-species Aphaenogaster rudis article does not exist on Wikipedia, so the genus article is cited instead.