Ant Facts

Ants are a vast group of insects related to bees and wasps. Most ants have a tiny waist and are wingless.
Ants are the main insects in tropical forests, living in colonies of anything from 20 to millions.
Ant colonies are all female. Most species have one or several queens which lay the eggs. Hundreds of soldier ants guard the queen, while smaller workers build the nest and care for the young.
Males only enter the nest to mate with young queens, then die.
Wood ants squirt acid from their abdomen to kill enemies.
Army ants march in huge swarms, eating most small creatures they meet.
Groups of army ants cut any large prey they catch into pieces which they carry back to the nest. Army ants can carry 50 times their own weight.
Ants known as slave-makers raid the nests of other ants and steal their young to raise as slaves.
Termite colonies are even more complex than ant ones. They have a large king and queen who mate, as well as soldiers to guard them and workers to do all the work.
Termite nests are mounds built like cities with many chambers – including a garden used for growing fungus. Many are air conditioned with special chimneys.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.