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Ants are social insects, living in large colonies. The colony is typically divided into the following castes, or classes: queens (reproductive females), males, and workers (nonreproductive females). Although there are great variations in social structure among ant colonies, certain basic features are common to most species. These features are described in the following section.
Social Castes
Some colonies have one queen; other colonies have several. The queens are fed and otherwise tended by the workers. The males' only function is to mate with the queens. The workers carry out such tasks as enlarging and protecting the nest, tending queens and young, and foraging. There may be only one kind of worker, or there may be several kinds, with body structures specialized for different types of work. The activity of workers is coordinated mostly through pheromones and body contact. Depending on the species, queens live about 5 to 30 years, making them the longest-lived insects. Workers live about 1 to 3 years. Males live only for a mating season.
Starting A Colony
Usually once a year, a colony produces a generation of queens and males. Queens develop from larvae fed a highly nutritious substance secreted by workers. Males develop from unfertilized eggs. The queens and males are winged; they leave the nest in a series of large swarms, known as nuptial flights. Each swarm consists of either all queens or all males. The ants fly to other areas to mate with ants from
other colonies. The males die after the flight. The queens drop to the ground, shed their wings, and look for a place to lay their eggs. After a single mating, a queen can lay fertilized eggs for several years. Unfertilized eggs are usually laid sometime in the spring or summer. The eggs develop into larvae, the larvae into pupae, and the pupae into adults---a process called complete metamorphosis. The queen tends her first brood of offspring during their larval and pupal stages. This generation consists only of workers, who then take over the duties of tending the queen and her subsequent broods.
ants antennae are always moving. Antennae help ants find and taste food. They help ants recognize and touch one another. Antennae even help ants find their way. Most ants have two compound eyes. A compound eye has many lenses. (A human eye has only one lens.) Because of their compound lenses, ants see things broken up, like an image in a kaleidoscope. Ants see movement better than shape.
Kinds of Ants
There are about 10,000 species of ants. Many species are familiar to humans, although many others are seldom seen, living almost entirely underground, or foraging only at night. Among the interesting or unusual ants are the following:
Carpenter Ants
build nests and tunnels in dead wood, trees, utility poles, and timbers of buildings. Although they do not eat the wood, carpenter ants can do considerable damage to it. Carpenter ants are found in temperate regions throughout the world. The workers are among the largest known ants. The black carpenter ant is the largest ant found in the United States. The workers are about half an inch (1.3 cm) long, and the queens about one inch (2.5 cm). This ant sometimes enters houses in search of sweet foods.
Army ants gang up to eat insects, lizards, and small animals. Driver ants are nomadic; their movements are related to the hatching and growth of successive broods. While eggs are being laid and are hatching into larvae, the colony stays in one place. During this time, a
previous generation hatches from pupae into adults. The entire colony then moves on to the next site through a leaf-covered tunnel built by the workers. The larvae are carried to the new site in the mouths of some of the workers.
Fire Ants
are native to South America but are now also found in the southern United States. They eat a variety of foods, including fruit, vegetables, and insects. Fire ants are named for their painful sting, which produces a burning sensation. Armies of fire ants have been known to kill livestock. They are agricultural pests because they destroy young crop plants. Fire ants cover their nests with mounds of hard soil, some reaching a height of two feet (60 cm). They enter and exit the nest through several tunnels excavated in the mound.
Fungus-growing Ants,
found only in the New World, cultivate a certain species of fungus for their food. Some species of fungusgrowing ants cut off leaves from trees and other plants and carry them to their nests. They chew the leaves into a pulp and use it as a base on which to grow the fungus. These ants are commonly called leaf-cutting ants. They are also called parasol ants because they hold the leaves over their heads when carrying them. Some fungus-growing ants construct their gardens from insect droppings.
Big and little ants are needed to farm the fungus. Large worker ants set out at night to gather leaves. They use their long, hooked mandibles to cut the leaves. Then they march back to the nest, holding the leaves high. For this reason, leaf-cutters are often called umbrella or parasol ants. Inside the nest, smaller workers chew the leaves into a pulp, or paste. They put this paste on the fungus. Later, tiny ants harvest the fungus to feed the colony.
Harvester Ants
gather and store certain wild grass seeds, or cultivated grain. They gather the seeds from the plants and pick up those that have fallen to the ground. They store the seeds in underground chambers, and bring them up on sunny days and spread them out to dry. There are several species of harvester ants, found in temperate and subtropical regions. They can inflict very painful bites and stings.
Honey Ants
use certain workers, called repletes, as living vessels in which to store food. They collect nectar from plants or honeydew exuded by other nectar-eating insects and feed it to these workers. The repletes are gorged until their abdomens are many times normal size and they cannot move about. They hang from the ceilings of nest chambers and dispense the food, by regurgitating it, to the other ants during dry seasons when other food and water are scarce. There are a number of species of honey ants. They are found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Africa.
Black Ants
Little black ants are native to the United States and are found throughout most parts of the country. They are found in houses, in the cracks in sidewalks, and on lawns. Little black ants are attracted to human foods, particularly cooked meats and vegetables, and those containing sugar. They are active day and night, and are often seen carrying food back to their nests.
Slave-holding Ants
raid the nests of other ant species for larvae and pupae, which become slave workers in their colony after growing to adulthood. Some species of slave-holding ants are called amazon ants. Some slave-holding ants can live without slaves, if necessary. Other species are completely dependent, being unable to carry on the tasks of their colony alone. Slave-holding ants are widely distributed throughout the world.
Weaver ants build nests from leaves. To do this, some workers hold the sides of a leaf together. Others take silk-spinning larvae and pass them over the edges of the leaf to weave the edges together.