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The Living Encyclopedia
Explore our comprehensive database of reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. Discover detailed care guides, morph varieties, and community setups.
invertebrate
Leafcutter Ant
Atta cephalotes
Atta cephalotes, commonly known as the hairy-headed leafcutter ant, is a species of leafcutter ant in the tribe Attini. A colony can contain up to 5 million members, and each colony has a single queen that can live more than 20 years. The colony comprises different castes, known as "task partitioning", and each caste has a different job to do. This caste system includes minims, medias and majors.
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invertebrate
Weaver Ant
Oecophylla smaragdina
Weaver ants or green ants are eusocial insects of the ant family (Formicidae) belonging to the tribe Oecophyllini. Weaver ants live in trees and are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk. Colonies can be extremely large consisting of more than a hundred nests spanning numerous trees and containing more than half a million workers. Like many other ant species, weaver ants prey on small insects and supplement their diet with carbohydrate-rich honeydew excreted by scale insects (Hemiptera). Weaver ant workers exhibit a clear bimodal size distribution, with almost no overlap between the size of the minor and major workers. The major workers are approximately 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) in length and the minors approximately half the length of the majors. Major workers forage, defend, maintain, and expand the colony whereas minor workers tend to stay within the nests where they care for the brood and 'milk' scale insects in or close to the nests.
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invertebrate
Bullet Ant
Paraponera clavata
Paraponera clavata, commonly known as the bullet ant, is a species of ant known for its extremely painful sting. It inhabits humid lowland rainforests in Central and South America.
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invertebrate
Trap-Jaw Ant
Odontomachus
Odontomachus is a genus of ants commonly called trap-jaw ants found in the tropics and subtropics throughout the world.
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invertebrate
Carpenter Ant
Camponotus
Carpenter ants are a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae found nearly worldwide except in Antarctica and a few islands. The genus is the most species-rich genus of ants in terms of described species, comprising over 1,500 described species as of 2025. Although they are commonly referred to as carpenter ants, only a few members, mostly in the subgenera Camponotus and Myrmentoma, nest in wood.
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invertebrate
Red Imported Fire Ant
Solenopsis invicta
Solenopsis invicta, the fire ant, or red imported fire ant (RIFA), is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus Solenopsis in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was described by Swiss entomologist Felix Santschi as a variant of S. saevissima in 1916. Its current specific name invicta was given to the ant in 1972 as a separate species. However, the variant and species were the same ant, and the name was preserved due to its wide use. Though South American in origin, the red imported fire ant has been accidentally introduced in Australia, New Zealand, several Asian and Caribbean countries, Europe and the United States. The red imported fire ant is polymorphic, as workers appear in different shapes and sizes. The ant's colours are red and somewhat yellowish with a brown or black gaster, but males are completely black. Red imported fire ants are dominant in altered areas and live in a wide variety of habitats. They can be found in rainforests, disturbed areas, deserts, grasslands, alongside roads and buildings, and in electrical equipment. Colonies form large mounds constructed from soil with no visible entrances because foraging tunnels are built and workers emerge far away from the nest.
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invertebrate
Pharaoh Ant
Monomorium pharaonis
The pharaoh ant is a small (2 mm) yellow or light brown, almost transparent ant notorious for being a major indoor nuisance pest, especially in hospitals. A cryptogenic species, it has now been introduced to virtually every area of the world, including Europe, the Americas, Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is a major pest in the United States, Australia, and Europe. The ant's common name is possibly derived from the belief that it was one of the Egyptian (pharaonic) plagues.
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invertebrate
Army Ant
Eciton burchellii
Eciton burchellii is a species of New World army ant in the genus Eciton. This species performs expansive, organized swarm raids that give it the informal name, Eciton army ant. This species displays a high degree of worker polymorphism.
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invertebrate
Driver Ant
Dorylus
Dorylus, also known as driver ants, safari ants, or siafu, is a large genus of army ants found primarily in central and east Africa, although the range also extends to southern Africa and tropical Asia. The term siafu is a loanword from Swahili, and is one of numerous similar words from regional Bantu languages used by indigenous peoples to describe various species of these ants. Unlike the New World members of the former subfamily Ecitoninae, members of this genus form temporary subterranean bivouacs in underground cavities which they excavate and inhabit - either for a few days or up to three months. Also, unlike some New World army ants, driver ants are not specialized predators of other species of ant, instead being more generalistic with a diet consisting of a diversity of arthropods. Their colonies are enormous compared to other ant species, and can contain over 20 million individuals. As with their American counterparts, workers exhibit caste polymorphism with the soldiers having particularly large heads that power their scissor-like mandibles. They are capable of stinging, but very rarely do so, relying instead on their powerful shearing jaws. A large part of their diet consists of earthworms. Driver ant queens are the largest living ants known, with the largest measuring between 40 - 63 millimeters in total body length depending on their physiological condition.
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plant
Cape Sundew
Drosera capensis
Drosera capensis, the Cape sundew, is a perennial rosette-forming carnivorous herb in the flowering plant family Droseraceae. It is native to the Cape region of South Africa, where it grows in permanently wet, nutrient-poor habitats. Its elongated, roughly oblong leaves are held semi-erect and have a distinct petiole. It is quite a variable plant with several recognised growth forms, some of which form a short stem. As in all sundews, the leaves are covered in stalked glands that secrete sticky mucilage. These attract, trap, and digest arthropod prey, obtaining nutrients that supplement intake from the substrate in which the plant grows. D. capensis has dramatically mobile leaves that curl around captured prey, preventing its escape and facilitating digestion.
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plant
Monkey Cup
Nepenthes mirabilis
Nepenthes mirabilis is a species of carnivorous plant in the family Nepenthaceae. It is sometimes referred to by the common names common swamp pitcher-plant and tropical pitcher plant,.
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plant
Trumpet Pitcher
Sarracenia
Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora.
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plant
Cobra Lily
Darlingtonia californica
Darlingtonia californica is a species of carnivorous plant in the new world pitcher plant family, Sarraceniaceae. The cobra lily is the sole species within its monotypic genus, Darlingtonia.
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plant
Bladderwort
Utricularia
Utricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species. They occur in freshwater and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica. Utricularia are cultivated for their flowers, which are often compared with those of snapdragons and orchids, especially amongst carnivorous plant enthusiasts.
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