These workers have a crop in their abdomen that can, when filled with honeydew, swell to several times their normal body size. When food is scarce, they regurgitate this honeydew to feed the other ants in the colony.
比如「蜜瓶家蟻」，牠們有一群大型工蟻專司貯存飲水，其腹部的「嗉囊」存滿了液體時可膨脹為身體的數倍大，以便在食物短缺時回吐給同伴。