gamergate

See also: Gamergate

English

WOTD – 1 April 2016
A female Pachycondyla berthoudi worker

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γάμος (gámos, union, marriage) + ergate.

Pronunciation

Noun

gamergate (plural gamergates)

  1. (entomology) A worker insect that can become capable of reproducing when the queen has died.
    • 1990, Christian Peeters, “Monogyny and Polygyny in Ponerine Ants Without Queens”, in Social Insects and the Environment: Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of IUSSI, 1990, Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, →ISBN, page 234:
      Recent studies indicate that queenless societies can have either one or several gamergates per colony, which reveals that reproductive inhibition can occur despite the absence of the queen caste.

Anagrams

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