Top of the Anthill
Part I. SCIENCE LESSON
There are thousands of species of ants found all over the world and in just about every type of land environment. Many species are found in rain forests.
Ants are social insects that live in colonies (groups of related ants). Some colonies have millions of ants in them. Each colony consists of:
A. A Queen - The queen begins her life with wings, which she uses while mating. After mating with a male ant, she flies to her nesting area. She then loses her wings and spends her life laying eggs. The queen ant may live up to 18 years. She produces a chemical called 'queen substance' that the workers lick from her body. This substance tells the workers that the queen is well and healthy.
B.Workers - Workers are the many sterile (non-reproducing), wingless female ants who are the daughters of the queen. These workers collect food and feed members of the colony, defend the colony, and enlarge the nest. Most of the ants in a colony are workers. Many ant species produce a special scent when in danger. This scent attracts the other workers which rush in to help.
C. Soldiers - Soldiers are large workers (sterile females) who defend the colony and often raid other colonies, capturing slaves.
D. Males - Males are small ants that have wings. They fly from the colony to mate with a queen. They die soon afterwards.
Ants exhibit complex behavior; some ants build nests with lots of chambers and tunnels, some are fierce warriors, some collect and store seeds (harvester ants), some capture slaves, and some farm fungi (leaf-cutter ants).
Ants, like all insects, have 6 jointed legs, 3 body parts (the head, thorax and abdomen), a pair of antennae, and a hard exoskeleton.
Ants range in color from yellow to brown to red to black. Ants range in size from very tiny to up to about 1 inch long.
Compound eye - Ants have two compound eyes. These eyes are made up of many sections or lens which focus light from each part of the insect's field of view. Each section works like a separate eye. Some ants are almost blind and they find their way around using their antennae and smell sensors.
Stinger - Some ants have a stinger and some can even inject poisonous acid from the stinger (the stinger is at the tip of the abdomen, the rear body segment).
Mandibles - Ants can also bite using their jaws which are called mandibles.
Some Amazing Facts About Ants
AMAZING FACT 1: An ant can lift 20 times the weight of it's own body. Can you lift the weight of your own body? 2 times the weight of your own body?
AMAZING FACT 2: Ants keep their nests very clean. They usually have special chambers for waste materials and dead ants.
AMAZING FACT 3: Ants are sensitive to the smell of sweet foods. Foods such as pieces of cookie are carried to the nest. When an ant returns to the nest after finding food, it lays a scent trail that directs the other workers to the food.
Here is a picture of an ant collection. There are many more different kinds of ants than these.
More Ant Pictures:
