Taxonomy
- Class - Insecta
- Order - Hymenoptera
- Family - Formicidae
- Subfamilies - Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae
- Species - Over 12,000 recorded species,
- Scientists currently guess there are actually over 15,000 species on earth!
Ant Life Cycle
Ants are social creates that belong to the Family Hymenoptera. They live in colonies that include a queen, males and workers. They undergo complete metamorphosis; egg, larvae, pupa and adult. Colonies are created when a new female leaves the original nest and finds a male to mate with. She then finds a suitable home, drops her wings and burrows in and lays her eggs. After this point she may never leave the nest again. She raises the pupae and the colony begins. This new generation then feeds the colony and cares for her, including grooming. Some ant species have multiple queens in one nest and in some species a queen will actually take males from the original nest to make a new colony.
This type of reproductive control is called eusocial and enables them to be well-defended against enemies because of a well established worker class. This allows ants to dominate resources and prosper for a long time. A single ant queen can live up to 100 times longer than a worker ant (Carde, Encyclopedia of Insects).
This type of reproductive control is called eusocial and enables them to be well-defended against enemies because of a well established worker class. This allows ants to dominate resources and prosper for a long time. A single ant queen can live up to 100 times longer than a worker ant (Carde, Encyclopedia of Insects).
Ant Structure
The Typical ant structure is comprised of an exoskeleton which includes a three segmented body with a head, thorax (alitrunk) and the abdomen which contain the petiole and gaster. They commonly have one to two petioles separating the thorax from the gaster. The 6 legs makes them an incest.
Their head contains the eyes, mouth, antennae, mandibles. The eyes are compound, with many eyes in one. They commonly live int eh dark, so their eyes are not well developed. The mandibles can be quite large depending on the species in order to fight of enemies. The antennae are used for tasting as well as smelling. They are used for communication, in which ants are known for being be very social.
The thorax contain the six legs and is the center of the body. This is the area of the body that allows movement.
The abdomen has several parts. The petiole(s) and the gaster are parts of the abdomen. On the bottom of the abdomen are rows of "teeth" and segmented plates much like a wash board. By squeezing and relaxing these segments the ants can sing and communicate with other ants. This is also where the digestion takes place inside of the ant. On the end is a stinger with a venom gland that usually produces some type of formic acid. Unlike that of bees or wasps, the stinger is not barbed and can be retracted and used multiple times.
Their head contains the eyes, mouth, antennae, mandibles. The eyes are compound, with many eyes in one. They commonly live int eh dark, so their eyes are not well developed. The mandibles can be quite large depending on the species in order to fight of enemies. The antennae are used for tasting as well as smelling. They are used for communication, in which ants are known for being be very social.
The thorax contain the six legs and is the center of the body. This is the area of the body that allows movement.
The abdomen has several parts. The petiole(s) and the gaster are parts of the abdomen. On the bottom of the abdomen are rows of "teeth" and segmented plates much like a wash board. By squeezing and relaxing these segments the ants can sing and communicate with other ants. This is also where the digestion takes place inside of the ant. On the end is a stinger with a venom gland that usually produces some type of formic acid. Unlike that of bees or wasps, the stinger is not barbed and can be retracted and used multiple times.
Ant Nests
Ant nest are amazing structures as seen here in this You Tube video, Giant Ant Hill Excavated . These scientists poured 10 tons of cement into the nest for three days. Then the scientists removed tons of earth exposing a megalopolis. It looks like an underground alien city designed by one amazing architect! Amazingly, as the video points out, it was made by the collective minds of thousand of ants! At the depths, the ants had to carry soil clumps that were four times their weight and travel equivalent to a kilometer to the surface. The structure is 50 square meters wide and reaches 8 meters into the earth. It would be comparable to building the great wall of China.
There are many different types of ant nests, depending on the individual species but they all share these common characteristics. Ant nest are designed to be shelters that provide security and optimal growing conditions for rearing young. They are improved micro-environments that also act as food storage facilities, some even include gardens of fungus (Myrm’s Ant Nest Website). They are built with only the ants feet and mouths in wood or in soil. Ant nests house the queen(s) and her brood, with burial chambers, long passage ways, several rooms, garbage dumps and air vents if needed. They are truly amazing structures.
There are many different types of ant nests, depending on the individual species but they all share these common characteristics. Ant nest are designed to be shelters that provide security and optimal growing conditions for rearing young. They are improved micro-environments that also act as food storage facilities, some even include gardens of fungus (Myrm’s Ant Nest Website). They are built with only the ants feet and mouths in wood or in soil. Ant nests house the queen(s) and her brood, with burial chambers, long passage ways, several rooms, garbage dumps and air vents if needed. They are truly amazing structures.
Communication
Ants are well known for their communication skills and their strict organization within colonies. Have you have wondered why they follow each other in trails or know how to relocate their nests? The use of a complex mixture of pheromones allows ants to recognize nest-mates as well as intruders. The act of grooming and sharing of liquid foods spreads the unique pheromones around the colony which enables them to recognize each other. Sometimes ants steal larvae from neighboring colonies and rub pheromones onto them, tricking the new slaves into thinking they belong to that nest. These pheromones are used to mark forage trails and the way to and from the nests. "Just one milligram of the pheromone used by Atta texana, a leaf-cutter ant, would allow the ants to follow one other around the world three times!" (Carde, Encyclopedia of Insects)
Some Notable Ants
Solenopsis invicta , a common fire ant species from Brazil, can create rafts of live floating islands. The picture at the top of the page is one of these amazing living rafts. They do this in response to flooding that occurs in Brazil often. These rafts can grow as large as garbage can lids but commonly are dinner plate size. They do this by hooking their legs and mouths together. In under two minutes thousands of ants can be linked, responding quickly an emergency. As they move along the flooded forest floor they respond to rocks, sticks and other obstacle, discarding deceased ants along the way as they are dead weight that compromise the buoyancy of the raft (Poppick, Bizarre Fire Ants Create Rafts to Survive Frequent Floods).
Leaf-Cutter ants comprise some of the largest ant colonies. Over forty species of ants are leaf-cutters. What is amazing is that they are cutting the leaves to feed their fungus farms. In the article, How Leafcutter Ants Evolved From Farmers Into Cows by Ed Yong, he explains how the ants use this fungus to break down plant biomass into digestible material for the ants. "They apply fertilizers to their crops, in the form of bacteria that provide nitrogen to the fungal gardens. They also use pesticides— they grow antibiotic-secreting bacteria that disinfect the fungi of parasites or competitors" (Yong). Neither ant nor fungus can live separate from each other, they are completely co-dependent on each other.
There are 9 Southeast Asian ant species that are referred to as exploding ants. These ants are in the genus, Camponotus and are the original suicide bombers. The workers have an enlarged mandibular gland full of digestive acids running the length of their body. These ants grab onto the heads and bodies of enemies and perform autothysis (suicide), by exploding their abdomens. This action sprays a gooey toxic substance into the eyes and mouth of the enemy or prey and are then consumed by the rest of the colony. The substance created by the enlarged mandibular glade acts as a glue, immobilizing any and all prey near by. Although the deceased ant cannot personally benefit from this action, the life of the colony depends on it's sacrifice (Davidson, Diane W.).
Leaf-Cutter ants comprise some of the largest ant colonies. Over forty species of ants are leaf-cutters. What is amazing is that they are cutting the leaves to feed their fungus farms. In the article, How Leafcutter Ants Evolved From Farmers Into Cows by Ed Yong, he explains how the ants use this fungus to break down plant biomass into digestible material for the ants. "They apply fertilizers to their crops, in the form of bacteria that provide nitrogen to the fungal gardens. They also use pesticides— they grow antibiotic-secreting bacteria that disinfect the fungi of parasites or competitors" (Yong). Neither ant nor fungus can live separate from each other, they are completely co-dependent on each other.
There are 9 Southeast Asian ant species that are referred to as exploding ants. These ants are in the genus, Camponotus and are the original suicide bombers. The workers have an enlarged mandibular gland full of digestive acids running the length of their body. These ants grab onto the heads and bodies of enemies and perform autothysis (suicide), by exploding their abdomens. This action sprays a gooey toxic substance into the eyes and mouth of the enemy or prey and are then consumed by the rest of the colony. The substance created by the enlarged mandibular glade acts as a glue, immobilizing any and all prey near by. Although the deceased ant cannot personally benefit from this action, the life of the colony depends on it's sacrifice (Davidson, Diane W.).