Facts about Ants
Fun Fact
“A study estimates that there are about twenty quadrillion ants (twenty quadrillion) on Earth. Their total mass is bigger than that of all mammals and birds combined. There are approximately 2.5 million ants for each human on Earth.” Source PNAS.ORG
Have you had ant pest control Problems lately? We have compiled a list of fun facts about Ants. The list includes information about the many distinct species of Ants and how we can eradicate them when they become a pest.
Learning new facts about anything is always fun!
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Biology of Ants
Did you know that there are more than ten thousand species of ants on our Earth? Ants can be identified by their very thin waists in the area between the abdomen and the thorax. Ants have a very tough outer we call an exoskeleton. Ants have six legs with three joints, and they are differentiating lengths depending on the type of ant. Ants can be anywhere from 6mm to 19mm in length. The queen is usually the biggest and she can reach 19mm in length. Ants have extremely strong jaws with small antennae with big eyes and a sizable head.
In an Ant colony there are 3 types of ants. The queen, female, and male ants. The queen is sizeable and can grow up to 19mm.
The queen ant lays the eggs, and they have large wings to fly away when they need to move to a new nest. Queen ants can become incredibly old and can live to an age of 30 years. There are multiple queens within an ant nest, but this can vary from one species to the next.
Female ants do not have wings, they are sterile, and they are not able to fly. Females can reach an age of three years; they are known as workers or soldier ants. Female ants tend to the eggs and larvae. They protect the colony from intrusion and repair and build the colony. One of the females most principal functions is to forage for food.
Male Ants or more commonly known as drones have wings and are fertile for mating with the queen. Male ants have long antennae and are tinier than the queen ant. The male ant only comes out of the colony for one day to mate. They are estimated to die two years after mating.
Ant Reproduction
In the life of an ant there are four stages of reproduction 1- eggs 2- larva 3- pupa 4- adult. After the queen has laid the eggs, the larva will hatch in a few days. The female or worker ants feed the larva until they are big enough to service. In just one week the larva has become an adult and is ready to take on its tasks. This is then the complete metamorphosis of an Ant.
Ant Habitat Facts
Ants are very social insects. If you have ever observed ants, you can see how they are in constant communication. Ants live in a highly structured community. Ants can choose their habitat be it in trees, walls, underground, mounds, or plants. During the winter months, ants can become inactive.
More Amazing Facts about Ants
Ants may seem boring to people with no knowledge about them, but they are truly remarkable. Here are a few amazing facts about Ants.
• There are some species that have been on earth for more than one hundred Million years.
• Ants can be found on every continent except in extremely cold areas like Antartica or a select few islands.
• Ants are extraordinarily strong, and they can lift twenty times their body weight! That is truly a feat of strength.
• Ants are extremely intelligent. One ant has two hundred thousand brain cells which means that forty-five thousand ants have the same size brain as one human.
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