What is "myrmecophilous"

myrmecophilous \myrmecophilous\ adj. (Biol.) Associated with, or benefitted by ants through sharing their nest.

Dependent \De*pend"ent\, a. [L. dependens, -entis, p. pr. dependere. See Depend, and cf. Dependant.]

1. Hanging down; as, a dependent bough or leaf.

2. Relying on, or subject to, something else for support; not able to exist, or sustain itself, or to perform anything, without the will, power, or aid of something else; not self-sustaining; subordinate; -- often with on or upon; as, dependent on God; dependent upon friends. Opposite of independent. [Narrower terms: interdependent, mutualist, mutually beneficial; parasitic, parasitical, leechlike, bloodsucking; subordinate; underage; myrmecophilous; symbiotic] Also See: unfree.

   England, long dependent and degraded, was again a power of the first rank.
   --Macaulay.

3. conditional; contingent or conditioned. Opposite of unconditional.

   Syn: qualified.

4. addicted to drugs.

   Syn: addicted, dependent, drug-addicted, hooked, strung-out.

   Dependent covenant or Dependent contract (Law), one not binding until some connecting stipulation is performed.

   Dependent variable (Math.), a varying quantity whose changes are arbitrary, but are regarded as produced by changes in another variable, which is called the independent variable.

a. (context biology English) Adapted to thrive in the presence of ants.

adj. living symbiotically with ants