[Curiosities] 11 interesting curiosities about ants

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Ants are extraordinary insects that impress everyone. If until now you did not know how elaborate their society is or how much it resembles us, we offer below some interesting things about ants.

Spread and species

There are over 10,000 species of ants in the world, of various colors and sizes. The average size is between 2 and 7 mm, but there are also ropes that can reach 2.5 cm. ants can range in color from blue or purple to green, red or brown.

It is estimated that the biomass of all ants in the world is equivalent to the biomass of all humans, and represents about 10% of the biomass of all animals.

Ants live on all continents except Antarctica, where it is too cold. Most ant species live in tropical and sub-tropical areas.

It seems that the ants lived with the dinosaur. Their fossils date back 130 million years.

Anatomy

Ants are built to be very durable and efficient in the work they do. An ant can lift 20 times its weight.

Each individual has 6 strong legs, equipped with 3 joints, which allow ants to move on any kind of rugged terrain. If a man could run as fast as an ant, relative to his weight, then he would have a speed similar to that of a racehorse.

Ants are the smartest insects. Their brain contains about 250,000 nerve cells, being the best developed of all insects. By comparison, the human brain has 10 million cells.

The two eyes are made up of other smaller eyes, and offer a very well developed vision sense. However, there are also species of sightless ants. They communicate through chemical signals, such as pheromones. Chemical communication is used by all types of ants, being the most efficient.

Ants have two strong jaws, which work like scissors. Insects cannot swallow solid food, only juice or food juice, which they squeeze with solid jaws.

Each ant has 2 stomachs: in one it accumulates food for itself, and in the other for the colony.

Antennas are used for both tactile sense and smell.

Some species of ants are equipped with a needle at the hind end, used for defense or to catch prey. The toxins of some species are very poisonous and can kill even a human (if it is stung by a large number of ants). The prisoner used certain types of ants to kill or torture.

Not all ant species have needles. Some, such as forest ants and black ants, have the ability to spread a jet rich in formic acid. Such ants are taken by birds in their plumage to help them get rid of parasites. In exchange, the ants have a plentiful meal.

Depending on the work they do in the colony, the ants are built differently. For example, soldier ants, responsible for defending the muzzle, have larger heads than working ones. They block the entrance to the colony with their oversized head. When an ant of the house arrives, it chemically says the password and can enter. Foreign ants are stopped.

the colony

Depending on the species, a colony can be made up of several hundred individuals or several millions.

The colony is ruled by at least one queen. She is the only one who has the right to procreate. The queen can live up to 35 years. When another queen dies, she can take his place or the muzzle is doomed. The queen has wings, which she loses after mating. It is usually more massive than working ants.

The queen mates with one or more males, called drones. They also have wings, mating in flight. They are smaller than the rest of the ants. After reproduction, they will die. The queen mates only once in her life, the accumulated semen being enough to fertilize the eggs until she dies.

Working ants are the ones we can see everywhere. They keep the muzzle alive. A worker lives between 45 and 60 days. Working ants can have various roles, well defined: guards, hunters, gatherers, garbage collectors, nannies, soldiers, etc.

Garbage ants collect feces or unwanted debris from the moss and store it in the "landfill" outside the colony.

The legionary ants of South America live in colonies of 700,000 members. They are nomadic ants, the whole colony being on a perpetual journey. They are extremely aggressive and destroy everything in their path. The colony carries on its journey eggs and larvae, which develop as they go.

In mumps, eggs and larvae are placed on the ages. In the evening the eggs are taken to the center of the muzzle to be protected from the cold, and in the morning they are brought back to the surface to warm up.

Working ants are not allowed 

to reproduce, they are generally sterile. However, if they lay eggs they will not be fertilized and will become a source of food.

Ants are omnivorous. Consume both insects, larvae, eggs and fruits, leaves, plant material.

When an ant discovers a valuable source of food, it takes as much as it can carry and returns to the muzzle, but not before leaving an oppressive trace that allows it or its smiles to return to that source.

Ants fight each other, which is quite rare. The armies of the two colonies are waging real wars, which can last for days. In the end, thousands or millions of corpses will lie on the battlefield.

Agriculture and slavery It was not man who invented agriculture, but ants, 40 million years ago.

Certain species of ants grind with strong leaf jaws, which they turn into a paste. This paste is stored in a certain place and will provide a precious substrate on which mushrooms will grow. Mushrooms can be eaten by ants, unlike leaves, whose cellulose cannot be digested.
    
In ants, the work of fertilizing crops using natural fertilizer obtained from feces was also observed.

Ants also grow animals. Some species of ants take advantage of the sweet secretion secreted by aphids, small insects that feed on plant sap. Ants "milk" aphids to get delicious secretion. Aphids are kept in herds, which are grazed on certain plants. When the plant has been depleted, the herd is taken to another food source. Ants guard the aphids vigorously, fighting predatory insects or other ants.

Slavery also appeared in ants. An Amazon ant species (Polyergus rufescens) is known for its habit of enslaving other ants. They attack the antlers of other ant species or even their own species, and steal their eggs. When they hatch, the ants will be forced to work for the new colony.

Moreover, some ants of the genus Polyergus attack the mound of ants of the genus Formica led by the queen. The attacking queen will kill Formica and take her place. The entire Formica colony will now work for Polyergus ants.

Ants consume whatever they meet. Insects are safe prey for ants. In a large mound, in a single day, over 100,000 insects are brought. But ants are not only satisfied with insects: reptiles, amphibians, even birds and small mammals are hunted, thanks to extremely strong toxins, secreted by some species of ants.