Ants are small, social insects belonging to the ant family. They are among the most widespread and numerous insects in the world.
Coloring Book Ants
Information
- Community: Ants are eusocial insects, which means that they live in organized colonies that can number from several to even several million individuals.
- Role in the colony: In an ant colony, different castes are distinguished, such as the queen (responsible for reproduction), workers (collect food, care for the young and build the nest) and males (their main function is reproduction).
- Communications: Ants communicate mainly through pheromones - chemical substances that transmit information to other individuals in the colony.
- Diet: Ants have a varied diet - they eat insects, seeds, nectar and many other foods. Some species grow fungi in their nests or breed aphids for "honey dew."
- Sockets: Most ants build nests in the ground, but there are also species that make nests in wood, leaves or other materials.
- Disposition: Ants are found in almost all terrestrial areas of the Earth, with the exception of some islands and polar areas.
- Ecological significance: Ants play a key role in ecosystems, participating in the decomposition of organic matter, pollination of plants and control of populations of other insects.
Trivia
- Superorganism: Ant colonies are often seen as "superorganisms" because their members work together like cells in a single organism, performing a variety of functions for the good of the entire colony.
- Power: Ants are extremely strong relative to their size - they can lift and carry objects weighing up to 50 times their own.
- Ant bridges: Some ant species (e.g., army ants) create "bridges" and "roads" from their bodies to help the colony cross obstacles or speed up movement.
- Pheromones: Ants use pheromones to communicate. With them, they can leave scent trails leading to food sources or warn of danger.
- Living nests: Ants of the species Oecophylla smaragdina They join the leaves together, using specially made yarn to form their nests.
- Reproduction in the air: Many ant species go through mating flights, during which new queens and males take to the air to breed.
- Slave species: Some species of ants, such as slave ants, attack colonies of other ants, kidnapping their larvae and pupae, which, once hatched, become "slaves" in the new colony.
- Ants in agriculture: Ants Atta i Acromyrmex from South and Central America grow mushrooms in their nests, providing them with leaves as food and using mushrooms as their main food source.
- Life expectancy: Unlike many other insects, queen ants can live up to a dozen years. Female workers usually live a few months to several years, while males usually live only a few days after mating flight.
- Biodiversity: There are more than 12,000 described species of ants in the world, but scientists estimate that the actual number of species may be much higher.