Ants - Most Hard - Working Creatures

Hard working ants

Ants are common sight all over the world. Only in the Polar regions and snow covered mountain peeks there are no ants. Ants are among the most hard - working creatures. They live with a remarkable sense of unity.

There are nearly 14,000 species of ants in the world. In size they vary from 0.1 cm to 4 cm. The ants most familiar to us are the big black ant called Makoda, the red tree ant, the ones that bite us, and the black tree ants, the small ones that get into our sugar tins. 

Ants live in large colonies, which can at times contain five lakh individuals. The red tree ant makes its colonies in trees usually the mango tree, by leaves with the use of silk thread which only its larvae can produce.

Ants life cycle

African weaver ants belong to the same group as the Indian red ants, but they build larger nests spanning across two or three trees. The black tree ants also nest on trees. Their dwelling is a huge pagoda-like structure about 30 feet high. Leaves are excellent building material which ants further strengthen  by applying a coating of body secretion to make them hard and water proof.

Some ants do not live in fixed nests but roam from place to place. Thee are the army ants found in South America and some parts of Africa.

Army ants

They travel constantly in huge columns which can be made up of 2 core ants. As the army begins to move forward, scouts move ahead and survey the surrounding area. They then lay down scent trails which guide other ants. When night falls, the ants seek temporary shelters and resume their march at sunshine.

Winged male ants get together at a spot far away from their nests and exude scent which attract female ants. As each female arrives, several males deposit their sperm into a pocket in her abdomen. When her pocket is full with sperms, the female files off. After the ritual is over, all the males die for they have served their purpose.

The female ant now seeks a suitable place to build a nest and sheds her wings which have no use to her after mating. She is now the Queen At. The giant - sized queen soon begins to fulfil her primary function, that producing thousands of eggs round the year, for ten to fifteen years. She does not have to mate again.

While she is looking after her first clutch of eggs the queen ant does not eat anything. But she depends on her body fat for nourishment. But once the eggs hatch and worker ants mature, they take over all activities if the nest and feed and take care of the queen.

All workers ants are female. They come in various sizes, depending on the type of work they do. The largest are called the 'workers major'. They act as soldiers and defend the nest. They have a large head and powerful jaws. Workers major patrol the opening of the nest keeping away intruders. They also help other workers when they have found a large piece of food that needs to be broken up into smaller pieces. Small ants called 'workers minor' are many. These vary in size. Some may be as the soldiers. They move about for food and look after the young. Any food found is brought into the nest and shared by the community. 

Most ants eat wounded or disabled live creatures like beetles, bugs and caterpillars. They also collects plant juices to feed their young. 

fire ants

Some ants grow fungi in their nests and feed on them. The ants which finds food usually returns to nest to summon her mates. Ants manage to control the number of eggs produced and the ants born. The Australian weaver ant is one such example.