Plural of formicary: nests or colonies of ants, or artificial structures designed for observing and studying ants.
From Latin 'formica' (ant) + '-ary' (place where something is kept or found). 'Formicary' is more naturalistic than 'formicarium,' emphasizing ant nests themselves.
The distinction between 'formicary' (a natural or natural-looking ant nest) and 'formicarium' (an artificial observation container) shows how specific scientific language can be—one emphasizes the biology, the other the apparatus.
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