Classified as formicidae of hymenoptera, ants are traceable throughout the world except in Arctic and Antarctic areas. It is estimated that there are more than twenty thousand kinds of ants globally and over 9,000 of them are named. China has recorded over two hundred kinds of ants.
Ants are small, most are less than 1cm in length. However, there are giant ants approximately 3 cm long and micro ants that are hardly visible with the naked eye. The ant’s body includes three parts: head, chest and belly.
The head of an ant includes its antennae, eyes and mouth. Antennae are thin and long, consisting of 10 sections with can sense touch and smell. Antennae are very useful while searching for food and exploring. An ant has a pair of compound eyes and three simple eyes. Its visual sense is weak since it spends much of its time in the dark. It mostly relies on its antennae for sensory information. An ant’s mouth is very versatile and can chew, lap, suck, and absorb.
The chest and belly of an ant are connected by 1-2 segments. Inside its belly are a craw, stomach, intestines, poison gland, as well as some other features.
An ant has two stomachs: one is it uses to digest food for itself, while the other is used to store excess food. This extra stomach is a called 「craw」, or「social stomach」. An ergate will store nectar there during its search for food and will then empty the food out to share with its companions after returning to its formicary.
An ant has three pairs of feet. Fore-feet play a very important role in carrying food, and can carry an object more than 50 times heavier than their own weight. Its forefeet also have a thorn like structure on the first joint, called a cleaning comb which is used for cleaning its antennae as dirt will inhibit its ability to search for food and limit its senses.
Each year ants generally have what is called an “ant wedding in the air”. A new queen will leave to set up its own colony after mating with winged male-ants in the air. Queen ants lay eggs and are very busy when the young ants are born. They have to work very hard until the young ants grow up to be workers. Then the work in the colony is taken over by the workers.
Most of the ants in the colony are female ants that are unable to reproduce. They are called ergates. Male ants will not appear before the “wedding in the air” and will die soon after mating. Consequently the ants you will normally catch are ergates, or worker ants and are always busy. Ants communicate with each other by smell, sound, touch, and sight. You will notice that in Ant Artists that ants touch each other with their antennae when meeting and feed each other using their mouths.
Studies by scientists show that most ants have weak vision and communicate with others through chemicals called pheromones. It is estimated that an ant has approximately 10-20 chemical “words” or “phrases”.
An ant colony usually has at least a few dozen inhabitants but can grow to contain up to contain a hundred thousand ants. Army-ants can even reach ten million! Ants vary greatly in size, ranging between 0.5mm and 30mm.
Ants eat many different things including dead insects, nectar, plant serum, and a liquid secreted by a special type of insect. Most ants prefer sweet food. Leaf-cutting ants from South America can cut down tree-leaves and transport them into their formicary to use as nursery for mushrooms.
As a titan in strength, ants can carry an object heavier than its own weight by as much as 50 times!
Ants have quite a number of natural predators such as the anteater, pangolin, spider, and many others. Predation and wars are common among ants. Ants are aggressive by nature. There are far more frequent wars between different kinds of ants than between humans.
There are many more interesting things to discover about ants. Now its time for you to explore and discover. Enjoy your new ant world!
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