Myrmekes are giant ant-like creatures that are the size of a full grown German Shepherd and love shiny things, such as gold. They live in enormous anthills with complex winding passageways loaded with stolen loot like gold, weapons, and jewellery. They spray poison, have almost unbreakable back armour, have vicious mandibles and can call on the rest of the nest to aid them, and can quickly swarm even the most skilled fighter. Not something a demigod would like to be up against.
Description
During ancient Greek times, people believed them to live in the Indian deserts, where they stocked their ant hills with gold. To explain the riches of the Indian people, legend says that the bravest warriors of the Indians slipped into the ant nests to recover the gold in a deadly game of snatch and grab.
Myrmekes are known to have tough skin and spit acid that tenderizes their prey. Myrmekes means ants in Greek.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Demigod Files
The Bronze Dragon
The Bronze Dragon that Beckendorf went into the Ant hill to find.
During a game of Capture the Flag, a swarm of Myrmekes are seen dragging the head of the Bronze Dragon across the ground to their hive. Charles Beckendorf says that the dragon has been lost for years and tries to take the head back from the giant ants, but is himself captured in the process. Silena Beauregard becomes very upset when she finds out and helps Annabeth Chase fix the Bronze Dragon that had been recently dug up. Once repaired, it charges toward the Myrmekes hive and causes havoc among the ants, allowing Annabeth, Silena, and Percy Jackson to rescue Beckendorf.