According to Greek legend, they were created by Zeus from a colony of ants and therefore took their name from the Greek word for ant, myrmex (Greek: μύρμηξ).
Segundo a lenda grega, foran creados por Zeus a partir dunha colonia de formigas e, por tanto, derivaron o seu nome da palabra grega para designar a formiga, myrmex (en grego: μύρμηξ).