Description of the ant 10 sentences. The most interesting facts about ants. Ant eggs are not really eggs

Small houses and big castles

Ants live in nests. However, in everyday life we often use the word “anthill”. Moreover, anthills can be located on the ground, and deep underground, in wood, and even in an ordinary acorn - a small family consisting of hundreds of individuals will be very cozy there.

But cave ants from Australia are distinguished by the fact that near the entrance to their underground anthill they build a fairly high barrier of dry twigs.

The nests look even more mysterious, where at the entrance there is a whole labyrinth sculpted from clay...

There are also anthills that will take your breath away when you see them. For example, scientists once discovered an entire ant city located eight meters underground. Its area was 50 square meters– this is a spacious size studio apartment! Do you know how much earth the little builders had to dig up to build their city? Forty tons!

How does a family choose a new nest site?

Any house can be destroyed. Anthills are not immune to this either. So, in the event of such trouble, the ants immediately begin to look for a new place to live. Imagine this situation: hundreds of scout ants scattered in different directions. Everyone explored the territory and found, in his opinion, a suitable place for construction. But how can you choose the best one from several options? And who, in general, makes decisions in ant family? In fact, there are no leaders here, and there cannot be. These mysterious insects act as a single living organism. The ant does not care about its own benefit, but about what is best for the whole family.

If they move, the scout ants give a signal to their fellow ants that they have found a site suitable for construction. And, if there are many signals from the same place, it means that all individuals will move in this direction.

Stray Ants

However, not all ants have permanent place residence. There are also stray ants. They live in the tropics of Africa, as well as in Central and South America. Sometimes African wandering ants unite into huge colonies of up to twenty million individuals! They move very quickly - at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. Now let's compare this to the speed of a running person... A beginner who decides to improve his health will develop it to about 17 kilometers per hour. For athletes it will, of course, be greater. But this example perfectly illustrates the amazing abilities of ants. After all, despite the fact that we run with them at approximately the same speed, the length of our legs and the tiny limbs of ants is simply incomparable!

It is very interesting to watch how wandering nomadic ants move. They are like a living river flowing in a direction known only to it. The width of this “river” at the base can reach fifteen meters. Then it gradually expands up to forty to forty-five meters! On average, such a column of nomads stretches up to one or two meters. When stopping for the night, the queen, along with the larvae, remains in the center, and the rest of the ants, clinging to each other with their paws, form a large ball, approximately one meter in diameter.

These nomads do not seem to get tired at all from exhausting travel. They can travel up to three hundred kilometers a day. They make temporary stops only for the queen ant to lay eggs. Ah, then everyone hits the road again. Why they don’t want to settle in one place, build a house and lead a measured lifestyle (by ant standards, of course) is a big mystery! Yes, and in general, it’s simply impossible to know everything about ants...

Farming ants

Dear reader, you probably know how delicious tomatoes and cucumbers grown in your own garden are. How wonderful it is to make a salad out of them in the summer! And, some housewives even make rolls so that you can enjoy the taste of these vegetables in winter. Mushrooms and berries are also collected for homemade preparations... Today you won’t surprise anyone with a jar of pickled honey mushrooms. But, did you know that there are farming ants who, just like us, know how to plant gardens and grow food in them?!

Leaf-cutter ants, which we will now discuss, are perhaps one of the most amazing insects on Earth. Their jaws are like tiny scissors, capable of cutting off a piece of green leaf, convenient for transportation to an anthill. Leaves, in turn, are raw materials for agriculture. Namely, for growing mushrooms! Leaf-cutter ants live quite deep underground. Sometimes they build their cities at a depth of several meters! Their anthills are complex architectural structures, with many passages and channels. Yes, what can I say, such buildings even have their own ventilation shafts through which mushroom plantations are ventilated!

So, having collected leaves and blades of grass, the worker ants take them home, where they are necessarily disinfected with an antibiotic, which they themselves produce. Then they grind the leaves. After this, other ants, very small in size, get to work. Their task is to make a paste from the leaves and distribute it throughout the plantation. By the way, these tiny ants never leave their nest, unlike their relatives who hunt for greenery.

Already a day after the pulp of leaves was laid on the plantation and fermented, its natural green color disappears. It slowly begins to turn into something similar to frost. This is the ants' delicacy - their favorite mushroom!

When the harvest time comes, special feeder ants take food to the worker ants and carefully ensure that no one goes hungry. And ants are amazing clean people. They collect the waste left over from growing the mushroom and take it to a landfill, which they themselves set up far from the anthill. Although, this is not surprising, because even a small ant wants to live clean, right?

Weaver ants

Well, these dodgers know how to make real canvases out of leaves, from which they then build nests! Weaver ants live in trees. It is noteworthy that during the work, not a single leaf is torn off the branch by the weaver! The ant simply grabs the edges of two leaves, and its fellows bring the larvae to the resulting structure, secreting threads similar to glue. This is how real masterpieces are born! If a gap forms somewhere, this is not a problem. The weaver can even patch it with a dry fallen leaf. In this case, the canvas will turn out motley.

True, we don’t have weaver ants here. Their habitat is usually Australia, South Asia and Africa. The peculiarities of these insects include the fact that they hold a load that exceeds their own weight by a hundred times. It's the same as lifting a person a car! Oh, and weaver ants can hang upside down even on smooth glass and withstand hurricane force!

Herder ants

This species feeds on honeydew - sweet transparent droplets secreted by forest aphids. The ants quickly realized that the insects that treated them to such a delicacy needed to be protected and protected. So the ants became real shepherds!

Shepherd ants also breed honey beetles, which, like aphids, provide them with a large amount of sweet food. As befits good shepherds, ants move their “herds” to better pastures - that is, to flowers that contain more nectar. How do they do it? Oh, this is indeed an interesting point! Shepherd ants carry female honey beetles on their heads. After all, they are representatives of the weaker sex, giving birth to offspring. The males are dragged, clasping them with their jaws.

It is unknown how ants sense the approach of rain, but the fact remains that before the first drops begin to fall from the sky, they drive honey beetles under large leaves. After waiting out the bad weather under such a unique canopy, the shepherds and their “livestock” get back to work...

Slave ants

There are slave owners among the ants! Young queens of some species, which do not yet have a “retinue” of worker ants, enter other people’s nests. There they pretend to be “theirs” with the help of an odorous substance that they are able to secrete. The family, not knowing that there is an impostor in front of them, begin to look after her, feed her, and show concern. Then the queen lays eggs, from which her own workers emerge. Over time, they replace the ants that sheltered the deceiver.

There are also more daring slave-owning ants. They break into the anthills of neighboring species and rob them. True, it is not gold and diamonds that thieves take away, but what is much more valuable - the future generation! Taking with them other people's eggs and larvae, the invaders raise them into individuals who will work for the rest of their lives for the family that enslaved them.

But in fairness, it is worth noting that the life of prisoners in a stepfamily is no different from the life that would await them in their own anthill. In both cases, only work and care for their fellows awaits them.

In fact, there are many more types of ants than can be described in this book. In addition, scientists are constantly making discoveries, and we are learning more and more about these tiny workers! By the way, people who study insects are called entomologists, and specialists who devote themselves to ants are called myrmecologists.

Interesting facts about ants:

When these insects wake up, they stretch out their tiny legs and open their jaws, as if they are pulling themselves up and yawning, just like a human does!
A medium-sized colony of wood ants can eat 100 kilograms of honeydew in a year.
Ants are brave defenders of their family. If their house is disturbed by any predator, they will begin to shoot caustic formic acid at it. Sometimes these little creatures are able to put even the largest owner of the forest – the bear – to flight!
If an ant is injured and is unable to do its job, then other individuals will still feed it. But if the forager is lazy, then no one in the family will tolerate him.
Ants do not eat alone - they take all their prey home, where it is distributed among all family members.
Various medicines are made from formic acid that help with joint pain and bruises.
Worker ants hardly rest. They sleep no more than five hours a day, and this time is divided into periods equal to several minutes! So it turns out that the anthill is constantly awake - while some ants take a short break, others work without sparing their paws.
The so-called honey ants fatten some of their ants to the size of grapes! These clumsy living food storage facilities hang from the ceiling of the anthill and provide food for their relatives in case of famine. An anthill can live from one dozen to several hundred of these ants, more reminiscent of real barrels in appearance.
There are a large number of species of small birds that use ants as a living antiseptic! They plunge the wings into the anthill, and the ants, in defense, begin to release streams of formic acid, which treats the bird’s feathers.
In Africa and America there live such predatory ants that even lions run away from! They are considered one of the most dangerous predators on earth, and consume more food than wolves, tigers and lions combined!
In total, more than 13,000 species of these amazing insects are known in the world. And, although they are all similar to each other, they have their own characteristics and distinctive features.
For every person living on Earth, there are approximately a million ants!
The total mass of all ants on our planet is approximately equal to the mass of people living on Earth!

About the benefits of ants

As you understand, dear reader, everything on our Earth is arranged incredibly wisely. So, small ants have their own role in nature.

For example, by constantly digging tunnels underground, ants ensure air circulation in the soil.
Thanks to the work of ants, the earth is loosened, and useful substances can be distributed to different depths.
Ants carry seeds, thanks to which some plants begin to grow in places where they would never end up without the help of their little friends.
There are insects that cause harm. They are eaten by ants, nicknamed orderlies for their work.
Also, thanks to ants, dried wood decomposes faster.

Actually, we can talk about ants endlessly - their civilization is incomprehensible! However, why do we need to talk a lot? You can simply watch their work, admiring the organization of these little living creatures, which can become an example of hard work for us!

Natalia Klimova

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Ants are small insects that, like wasps and bees, belong to the Hymenoptera family.

Ants are one of the most common insects on Earth. Most species can be found in the subtropics and tropics. The tropics have the densest population of ants. In the Amazon forests, about one-third of the living biomass comes from ants. As for Europe, about one hundred and eighty species of ants live here.

Ants have important for nature. They highlight nutrients, eat pests and act as food for many birds and animals. There are approximately six thousand species of ants, most of which live in open nature. Only some of them prefer to live near human buildings or in the houses themselves. Red house ants and black ants are most common in residential areas. They can often be found in city apartments.

Appearance and vital functions

Ants have a stepped head and a large rear part of the body. They have tentacles that consist of tips and a long element. In ants high level organization of social structure.

In a family of ants, the queen ant lays eggs. Males are exclusively engaged in fertilizing the queen and do not live long. Winged females appear briefly and after mating, they cast off their wings and form new ant colonies. If you observe an anthill, then, as a rule, you can only see wingless workers, busy searching for food around the anthill.

Ants have the ability to communicate using scents called pheromones. The path to the food source is marked by the smell of their legs, secreted by special glands and containing information about the quality and location of the source. Based on this trail, it is formed ant trail and along it the ants carry food to the anthill. Liquid food is transported in the so-called. social stomachs. As for solid food, for example, larvae, it is transported to the anthill in whole or in parts.

Habitat and reproduction

Ants live in large colonies and families, which include males, females, the so-called. worker ants (usually sterile females) and ant larvae, pupae and eggs.

The eggs of the ants are small in size, the larvae are worm-shaped and without legs and are placed deep in the nest and are inaccessible to the eyes of people. Worker ants take care of them. They are also responsible for bringing food to the nest, and, as a rule, less than ten percent of all working ants go in search of it.

House red ants form families of thousands, or even more than a million individuals. There are sometimes up to two hundred female queens in the nests. The annual increase can range from two to thirty thousand ants. The development time of one ant from egg to adult state for these ants is about forty days. A female ant lives for two hundred and seventy days, a male for only twenty days, and a worker ant for sixty days.

In general, red ants are capable of eating almost anything. But most of all they like products with sugar and animal protein. Most often, semi-liquid or liquid organic substances are eaten. By producing saliva in the mouth with digestive juices and pre-processing solid food, ants are then able to absorb it.

They can live only in sufficiently heated places. As for apartments, they prefer to live in kitchens, dining rooms and bathrooms. For nests, inaccessible and hidden places are chosen - under the parquet, behind the tiles, behind the baseboard, in all sorts of cracks and crevices, etc. Spreading throughout the building, they penetrate into other rooms, using all kinds of communications (pipes, etc.) and cracks.

Ants are strong!

As is known, ants are capable of carrying loads that are several times greater than their own weight.

The secret here is that the ant's muscle strength does not decrease in direct proportion to its size. We believe: with a decrease in the size of an insect’s body, its mass decreases in proportion to the third power of the length of its body, and the cross-sectional area of the muscles, which determines the absolute strength, decreases and corresponds to the square of the length of its body, which means to a lesser extent than its mass. With the help of this fact, small ants can transport large loads on themselves.

However, following the same calculations, if you theoretically increase an ant to the size of an elephant, it will no longer be able to carry the same mass as it can carry with its small size.

Danger to people

Crawling somewhere on rotting food debris and sewage, and then getting on food, ants are able to act as carriers of all kinds of human diseases: diphtheria, typhoid, etc. Any food product can suffer from an ant invasion.

The secretive placement of nests and the impossibility of effective application contact poisons to reduce their numbers. Usually the most effective method is the bait method, which is based on the characteristics of a given biological species transfer its food from the mouth of one individual to the mouth of others who are in the nest.

More than 100 million years ago, ants already inhabited the Earth and underwent virtually no evolutionary changes. And today these insects accompany people wherever they are: in their homes, on the way to work, on vacation, and all because, with their extremely small size, they make up up to 25% of the biomass living on the surface of the planet.

Although there are more than 13,000 species of them, and they are distributed almost everywhere except Antarctica, people do not know everything Interesting Facts about ants.

Hardworking insects

There is a science for studying the habitat and lifestyle of these insects, which is called myrmecology. Dozens of world-class scientists, starting from the 18th century, devoted themselves to their study, but insects still surprise with their ability to adapt to circumstances, environment and the ability to completely restore your anthill even if it is destroyed.

The data collected by scientists can be combined into 10 interesting facts about ants, although there are many more.

The first fact that is characteristic of almost all ants, regardless of where they live, is amazing hard work. To an outside observer, it may seem that insects are moving chaotically from the anthill and back, but in fact, each of them has responsibilities, for failure to fulfill which punishment and even the death penalty may be imposed.

Building a nest, protecting it, maintaining cleanliness and obtaining food are far from the only responsibilities of these hardworking creatures. The basis of the colony is a formed family, each member of which belongs to a specific caste.

Ant family

Interesting facts about ants concern the position of insects in the family hierarchy. This is the second point, allowing the colony to exist for many years and expand its possessions.

Any anthill begins with a small number of individuals, which increases to several million, occupying large areas. Conventionally, the family of these insects can be divided into females, males and “hard workers”.

Regardless of what position the insects occupy in the family, everyone must perform their duties properly - the queen can be killed in the same way as a working ant. Everything is subordinated to the concept of the benefit and importance of each individual for the development and strengthening of the colony.

The external difference between representatives of different castes is manifested in the presence of wings in males and females and their absence in working individuals.

The method of birth also depends on the "origin". For example, queens and workers are born from fertilized eggs, and males from unfertilized eggs. Therefore, red, red and 3 stages of maturation - egg, larva and pupa. No less interesting facts from the life of ants concern their queens.

Life and work of the queen ant

Each anthill can contain from one to several queens, it all depends on the size of the colony. Third important factor for the full growth of the family, this is the vital activity of its female. The amazing thing is that the queen mates only once, and the resulting sperm should last her until the end of her life, which lasts from 12 to 20 years.

In some species of ants, the female mates with one male, going on a mating flight after him, while in others this happens with several dozen males. After fertilization, the queen chooses whether to stay in the same anthill or organize a new one.

If she leaves the nest, she must find not only a suitable place to organize a new colony, but also set up a “maternity ward” where she will lay her first eggs. To support their lives, females of some species of ants, leaving the old nest, take fungal spores to organize and plant a garden, which they plant in a new place. Well, aren’t these interesting facts about ants for children?

Ability to grow and breed food

Only 4 species of creatures on earth consciously breed “livestock” and grow plants so that during a sedentary lifestyle the family does not need food - these are ants, bark beetles, termites and people. Moreover, insects have several million years more experience than humans. This is the 4th fact from the life of these insects.

The tenth fact is the unique ability of ants to clone themselves. This is typical, for example, of the Amazons. Entire colonies of females use parthenogenesis to reproduce without the participation of males.

The ant is well known to man. To date, approximately 13,000 insects have been studied and described, which have spread almost throughout the world. The exception is Antarctica, the polar regions and the central territories of vast deserts. Due to their huge numbers, ants make up on average 10 to 25% of the biomass of terrestrial animals. Of this number, more than 300 species of insects live in Russia. The ability to adapt to different habitats is determined by social organization and the use of a variety of resources.

general description

Photo of an ant close-up, posted on the site, will allow you to carefully examine it. Depending on whether they belong to a particular species, insects are different sizes. The smallest individuals reach a length of only 1 mm, and up to 50 mm. They also differ in color. Among the ants there are red, black, red, glossy, matte and even green. Each type of insect has its own characteristic external features, specific behavior, and they also differ in certain ways.

From a biological point of view, ants belong to the order Hymenoptera. In addition, they belong to the class insects, phylum arthropods and are grouped into the family Formicidae, which means ants in Latin.

Interesting!
Ants are hard-working insects and have enormous capacity for work. They are able to lift a load whose mass is 20 times their own. Heaviness is carried over considerable distances.

Ants are social insects. The social structure of their community has a strict hierarchy with a division of labor, developed systems of communication and self-organization. This allows individuals to coordinate their actions and perform the tasks assigned to them. Some species of ants are endowed with the ability to transmit complex information to each other, thanks to a developed “language”. All individuals are divided into 3 castes:

females: queens or ;
males;
worker ants are sterile females.

Belonging to one group or another is determined at the genetic level and cannot be changed by any circumstances. Male ants and females, they are absent from working individuals. In all species of insects, female individuals are born from fertilized eggs, which can subsequently become queens or workers. Of the unfertilized eggs, only males.

In order to have a complete understanding of ants, the description of their appearance must be supplemented with features of their anatomical structure.

An excursion into anatomy

The external structure of ants is distinguished by a clearly defined segmentation, in which the following parts of the body are represented - the head, the mesosoma (chest) and the body connected to it. thin waist abdomen. All of them are covered with a durable chitinous shell, which is an exoskeleton. This fact indicates that the insect skeleton is located outside, but despite this, it performs all the functions of an unusually located organ. It provides protection and support to the body.

The anatomy of an ant is quite complex, but also interesting due to its specific features. The narrow waist connecting the abdomen with the mesosome is called petiole, which includes one or 2 segments. Together with the abdomen they form a metasoma. This structure of the ant significantly distinguishes it from other insects.

A characteristic feature is the geniculate antennae located on the head. They perform the function of sensory organs and help the ant to detect chemical substances and recognize smells, determine direction air flow, feel the vibrations. With their help, signals are transmitted and received through contact. The photo of the ant clearly shows the geniculate antennae and body structure of the insect.

On a note!
Only ants have such antennae. Other insects lack such a sensory organ.

The external characteristics of individual ant species are also reflected in the structure of the head. It can be flat-convex, heart-shaped, conical, square, round or pyramidal. The ant's head is equipped with strong mandibles, which are designed to carry food, building material and defense.

Interesting!
In some species of insects, the mandibles open 270° and slam shut like traps at enormous speeds - 120-230 km/h. Therefore, even a tiny ant is capable of sensitively. In some species of insects, the mandibles open 270° and slam shut like traps at enormous speeds - 120-230 km/h. Therefore, even a tiny ant is capable of sensitivity.

The insect's brain in relation to its body weight has a ratio of 1:200, which is one of the largest among representatives of the animal world. However, an ant is an insect that does not have high intelligence, since all its reactions are determined at the genetic level. The variety and complexity of instincts amazes the imagination. In this regard, we can highlight the following features of ants:

high organization;
the ability to self-sacrifice for the good of the colony;
adaptations to the environment resemble intelligent activity.

All these and many other factors attract the attention of myrmecologists. In their scientific works described various types.

The gnawing type oral apparatus of an ant consists of the upper (labrum) and lower (labium) lips, as well as mandibles. Some species of insects have large mandibles, others not so much. They can be blunt or sharp, closing or overlapping. Thanks to their long jaws, insects are able to thoroughly chew food even with their mouths closed. The tongue of the lower lip, which ants use to clean their bodies, contains taste buds.

People are interested in knowing how many eyes an ant has. The organs of vision have a complex facet structure. Ants' eyes are made up of many microscopic lenses. They perfectly distinguish movements, but insects cannot boast of visual acuity.

Interesting!
Most individuals suffer from myopia, and some do not see at all.

In addition to the paired eyes, in the upper part of the ant's head there are 3 more simple eyes. With their help, they can determine the luminous flux and degree of illumination.

Ants have an original stalk-type abdomen with one or 2 rings. There are small notches or protrusions located vertically on it. The abdomen contains the internal organs of the ant, including the reproductive and excretory glands.

In many members of the family, especially working ants, at the end of the third segment of the body there is an ovipositor that has lost its functionality. It transformed into a sting, serving as a weapon of protection and obtaining food. Individuals secrete acid and other signaling substances, which, thanks to this organ, are sprayed over a distance of several centimeters, striking the enemy and warning relatives of danger.

All representatives of the ant family have 3 pairs of legs, which are well developed. Located on the thoracic segment, they perform strictly defined functions:

1 pair is equipped with special “brushes” that allow insects to carry out hygiene procedures;
the hind legs are equipped with spurs, which serve to protect against enemies and attack when fighting with other ants.

Claws, which have a hooked shape, end the ant's limbs. Thanks to this feature, the ant moves along horizontal and absolutely smooth vertical surfaces. The method of their movement is largely determined. Selected species ants jump, glide and even form crossings on water.

Internal structure

Internal anatomical structure ants are quite complex. It requires detailed description and study. Like any animal, members of the family have digestive organs, excretion, respiratory, nervous and circulatory systems. The insect's heart, which provides circulation of colorless hemolymph or blood, is presented in the form of a muscular tube running along the entire dorsal surface of the individual's body. The size of the ant and the specific structural features depend on its membership in a particular species, as well as its status in the family.

Answering the simple question of where ants live is not so difficult. Insects can be found on almost all continents, in different natural and climatic zones. They prefer to build themselves special anthill dwellings, which can be located on the surface, in the depths of the earth, in decaying wood, or under small stones. Some species of arthropods occupy other people's nests or settle near humans.

The photo of the anthill presented on the site allows you to get acquainted with complex system insect housing arrangements.

The founders of nests, which are built by individuals independently, are females or queens. Their main function is procreation and maintaining the population size, but they are the ones who choose the right place for. There is only one queen in any colony. All the rest, depending on their hierarchical affiliation, feed her, protect her, look after the laid eggs and offspring.

Insects prefer to live in colonies. They are characterized by a sedentary lifestyle, so they build nests suitable for life. The main part of the anthill is located in the soil, where a complex branched system of passages and labyrinths is organized, going to a depth of more than 4 m. This is where the queen is located, eggs and larvae are located. To maintain it, the anthill contains most of the living ants.

On a note!
The appearance of the outer part of the home can vary from a simple hole in the ground to a huge structure, for the construction of which insects use fallen pine needles, plant branches and other material.

Family structure and features of existence

An ant family is a well-organized community with a strictly established division of labor, internal system connections and relationships. The number of individuals in a colony can reach several tens and sometimes millions of inhabitants. Most representatives of the family are sterile, wingless females - worker ants, from which castes of soldiers, foragers, “nurses”, builders and other workers are formed.

An ant colony most often contains one reproductive female. She only does it once during the “nuptial flight.” The resulting supply of sperm lasts her entire life, the duration of which varies from 12 to 20 years and depends on the type of insect. Fertilized individuals gnaw off their wings and create new family. The development cycle of ants consists of several stages - egg, larva, pupa and adult. From a fertilized egg, females are born, otherwise males.

The ability to adapt to a certain environment affects the food in which plant and animal food is presented. The queen is supplied with a protein diet, and working ants prefer to eat small parts of berries, fruits, plant juice, seeds and other carbohydrate menu products.

Interesting!
These small representatives of the fauna mainly depend on functional responsibilities. A worker ant works for the benefit of the colony for 1-3 years. The shortest life span is reserved for males; it can reach only a few weeks.

Ants are one of the most interesting and constantly studied representatives of the planet’s animal world. They perform a large number of important environmental functions and have an invaluable role in regulating the number harmful insects..

Amazing ants: what facts indicate their uniqueness?

Ants are one of the most amazing creatures on planet Earth, their life and social system works like a clock, and in some of their qualities and types of activity they resemble people. Highly developed and numerous, they surprise scientists with the peculiarities of their lives with each new discovery. This article presents unique facts describing the life and activity of ants, which allow us to take a fresh look at these two-veined arthropods.

General information about the life of these insects

These hardworking creatures and the peculiarities of their life structure are the object of study of a science called “myrmecology”. Scientists, or myrmecologists, are engaged in the scientific research of this group of arthropods belonging to the family “formicides”. They have a lot to study - ants are considered one of the most numerous living creatures in the Earth's biosphere:

they live on all continents of the planet, except Antarctica, Greenland and Iceland;
the total number of individuals is several quadrillions (1 quadrillion equals 10 to the 15th power or a billion million) - a million for each person;
the total mass of this quantity is equal to the total mass of humanity.

Formicides appeared a long time ago, back in the time of dinosaurs; they are found in fossils over 100 million years old. Unlike these giants, insects, thanks to their natural features survived a huge number of eras, disasters, climate changes.

Now there are several thousand species of ants - from 9 to 12 thousand varieties of creatures adapted to different climates.

A common feature is the social structure of life: they are united in anthills - huge accumulations of arthropods, in which life is clearly distributed among several social roles and the relationships between them. Individuals live as a single organism - each unit constantly works for the benefit of this organism. A colony can number from several hundred, thousands to millions of creatures. Geographically, it can cover vast areas: some supercolonies, taking into account all their nests (interconnected), are located on an area of several thousand square meters (more than some dwarf states type Luxembourg).

Everything is run by the central queen, which lays eggs, controls the family and has an amazingly long lifespan for insects. On average, she lives about 7-15 years, in some cases she lives up to 28 years. Of course, its lifespan depends on many factors, including the prosperity of the colony itself and the ability to lay eggs (infertile queens are killed by workers), but the duration itself is comparable to the life of mammals. Today, specialized Scientific research, during which scientists are trying to determine the level of intelligence of the queen queen: it is estimated that this age allows one to achieve a significant level of awareness, even at the level of an insect.

In rare cases, polygyny is possible, when two queens lay eggs in the same nursery, although usually there can only be one queen, and she does not tolerate the presence of competitors. A colony may consist of several nests, which contains its own central queen. Once in a lifetime they have wings - a means for convenient spreading and finding a place for the development of the family.

The body of these animals is adapted to work; the body, made of chitin, allows it to withstand enormous pressure and weight: if you squeeze an individual of a certain species with a half-kilogram or even a kilogram weight, it will withstand this load. This gives them the ability to carry loads of weight and volume that exceed the insect body by several tens and even hundreds of times.

Attention! The peculiarities of the life of formicids allow them to be considered one of the creatures closest to humans in terms of the level of evolutionary development.

Features of life in an anthill

These insects are organized into communities, the life structure of which is distributed in a clear way. This is a matriarchal society; Compared with people, formicides are similar to the legendary “Amazons”:

the majority of the population consists of workers (including soldiers and representatives of other social roles), they are sterile females who lack the ability to reproduce;
males are used only for fertilization; after copulation they quickly die.

The development of the colony occurs as follows:

The fertilized female independently determines a place suitable for arranging a nest.
She settles in the chosen place and lays eggs.
At first, the individual does all the work of caring for the larvae and pupae, including searching for food.
In about 30-40 days, an adult ant grows from the larva. The emerging workers distribute roles, begin searching for food, caring for offspring, and take on protective and other functions.
As soon as the position of the anthill stabilizes and the number of working arthropods increases, the queen stops doing anything except one thing - laying eggs. She is capable of laying up to 40 thousand eggs in just 24 hours.

Feeding and caring for the queen is carried out by her retinue - a certain number of working animals.

The colony has a clear hierarchy: all responsibilities necessary to maintain the viability of the shelter are clearly distributed among its inhabitants. The main function is performed by workers, who are in the majority; they are divided into:

soldiers - are engaged in protecting their home, carrying out attacks on other anthills;
foragers - collect food and store it in internal storage;
builders - build and repair the nest, strengthen walls, paths, roofing;
scouts - search for food in external conditions, when food is found, they remember the place and send foragers there;
midwives who care for eggs. Their function is proper cultivation offspring.

Males, as stated, are needed only for fertilization; they do not perform any other function in the life of the nest.

Depending on the specific type arthropods may have separate social roles. For example, some varieties of formicids do not know how to feed on their own; food is stuffed into their mouths by workers, to whom this function is assigned.

Attention! Roles are laid down during the maturation of the larva - it depends on how and what it will be fed.

It is the central uterus that decides how many of which individuals there should be, and it gives commands to the workers who care for the eggs. It is not entirely clear how the queen understands the ratio of certain workers in relation to the entire population; perhaps some principles of information exchange unknown to science are used here (something like a common neural network between animals).

Ant eggs themselves are not eggs; rather, they are small larvae that are not able to develop on their own. When the queen lays an egg, it contains a minimal amount of nutritional compounds, but in the future the midwives are required to constantly feed the embryos and young animals.

Justice reigns in the relationships between arthropods:

those who have received any injuries are treated by the family and given additional food;
foragers who have eaten the food they are required to bring to storage are killed by their own brothers. As is known, workers do not have the right to eat the food that is intended for redistribution in the anthill;
laziness is also unacceptable: if any individual is seen to be idle, he may be kicked out of the family.

In some cases, a reduction in social status down to the level of a slave is possible. In this case, the offending individual will engage in activities that are considered less attractive (for example, taking out trash or building are not valued in the ant community), and will also receive less food during feeding.

Sometimes a colony may capture slaves while attacking other nests. Having overcome the defense and reached the larvae, they raise them to serve their family. In other situations, it is enough to kill the enemy queen for the family under her control to recognize the new power.

Spatial orientation and learning ability

Animals interact with each other using smell (to a large extent) and hearing. With the help of certain odors (glands), antennae, contact exchange, one insect transmits to another the necessary information about danger, the location of food, some kind of command, etc. They make the same type of sounds by tapping their antennae on the body or rubbing with their paws.

Attention! To transmit information and recognize “friend or foe”, the method of tropholaxis is used - the transfer of semi-digested food.

Outside their nest, ants also navigate by smell. When scouts build the optimal path to a food source, they leave behind a pheromone trail, which is subsequently strengthened by newly passing insects and turns into a fixed path for movement.

By the way, this example can reveal another amazing ability of arthropods - the ability to learn. It has been noticed that scouts and other workers teach their fellow insects their art; for example, during training, several insects travel 4 times slower than if one adult had done it.

Amazing activities

Formicids are constantly searching for food, creating underground protected and guarded storage facilities. An interesting fact: they take the collected grains outside to dry and do this precisely in sunny and warm weather.

Some species are engaged agriculture and create underground mushroom plantations. This feature is found only in ants, termites and humans.

Workers create conditions for germination: they bring pieces of herbs and leaves, chew them, mix them with their feces and fungal spores.
They spread the resulting mass in an even layer in the mycelium, where the crop begins to grow.
Arthropods take care of their plantings, prune them, allowing mushrooms to grow and biting off fruiting bodies.

By feeding on their own growths, creatures are less dependent on outside world and can provide their own food.

Attention! When leaving family nest the fertilized female takes with her a small piece of mushrooms and spores - in a new shelter she makes the basis for a new plantation.

The next feature of the formicides is similar only to people: no other animals are engaged in farming - they breed aphids. They also do this to provide themselves with food.

This is a mutually beneficial partnership - the aphids secrete honeydew, which is sweet, nourishing and very beloved by ants, and they, in turn, protect it and create conditions for reproduction.

Arthropods monitor aphids, carry them around plants so they can feed on the sap, keep them safe and, of course, collect honeydew.

Some species of animals feed only on these secretions and fall into a certain dependence: if the aphid dies, then the colony will die out. By the way, other insects (beetles, caterpillars, etc.) are also able to secrete a liquid that is pleasant for formicids: they can safely enter the nursery and feed on the larvae - even such offenses are forgiven for the honeydew.

Spiders, similar to ants, act in a similar way: using this similarity, they penetrate the nest, kill the animal and carry it out as a dead fellow, and eat their prey in a safe place. Typically, spiders have 8 legs, while formicids have 6; to enhance the similarity, the hunter simply presses his two paws.

Arthropods are consumed as food in various regions of the world. They and their larvae are an excellent source of protein food.

In countries South-East Asia and Africa are very fond of eating the larvae of these creatures.

In Asia, they love to use wood ant-based sauce as a seasoning.
Larvae are sold in markets: anyone can weigh and buy required amount food In Thailand they are considered a delicacy.

Attention! Larvae are the best food for chicks of various types of domestic ornamental birds.

In Mexico and the southern United States, honey ants live, the peculiarity of which is the presence of special individuals used for storing food. They are fed until large sizes(that the insect can no longer move) is filled with a mixture of water and various sugars. In the anthill they feed on secretions that come from the “food source”. In itself, such a “bloated” formicide is considered a delicacy for people, reminiscent of honey in taste. This is quite an expensive pleasure - a kilogram of honey ants costs about $100.
Some tribes living in South America use poisonous arthropods for initiation rites into men. The young man must place his hand in a special sleeve filled with live ants and endure their bites. This is a very painful procedure, after which the affected arm swells and temporarily paralyzes it.

Below are a few amazing facts about insects that speak about their uniqueness.

The length of the smallest individuals may not even reach 2 mm, the largest are about 5-7 cm in length.
The total weight of all formicids on Earth is one fifth of the weight of all living beings on the planet.
These animals bring benefits by maintaining balance in the ecosystem; they destroy pests (over the summer they can eliminate about 2 million harmful insects).
They don't need sleep.
They rest in a special trance, swaying their body from side to side.
After waking up, they stretch and yawn.
A working individual can live up to 3 years.
Arthropods are capable of living underwater for a long time(up to several days) without harm to your life.
While moving, animals develop high speed: if you translate it to human level, it turns out to be a little more than 50 kilometers per hour.
Formicids have a developed brain, consisting of 250 thousand cells, providing high neural activity.
They do not have a hearing aid; they feel vibrations from the ground or the touch of their fellow creatures.
Certain species of these arthropods are able to navigate along the magnetic lines of the planet.
Formic acid, a toxin produced in individuals, is used as an analgesic, tonic, and anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of many human diseases.
When crossing streams and other obstacles, animals are able to form unique “bridges” to cross them.
Some types of formicides are deadly to humans - for example, the bite of a bulldog ant can lead to death.
Stray ants are also dangerous because of their powerful jaws. Huge colonies living in the central regions of Africa stage raids and destroy all living things. There were cases when they killed people, accidentally left goats and other domestic animals.
Bullet ant bites are very painful. Their bite feels like a gunshot wound and lasts about 24 hours. Multiple bites kill a person.
Some types of bedbugs use formicides as a means of self-defense. They kill them, suck them out and create a shell from their bodies on their back dead insects. This is how they protect themselves from spiders by deceiving them.
The queen is chosen based on a competition: several contestants show themselves and stage an exhibition fight in front of the assembled arthropods. They choose the winner who will lead the anthill.

Ants play an important role in preserving the entire Earth's ecosystem. These creatures are in many ways similar to people, developed in every sense. Their life is full of amazing details, and the reader learned about the most striking of them by reading this article.