Legends about ants. Scientific facts about ants that will shock you

Ants are amazing creatures, they are very strong and are able to lift tens of times their own weight. We know that ants are social insects and live in colonies. But did you know that ant colonies can be so large that they span thousands of kilometers? Do you know that ?

In this article you will discover the most amazing and Interesting Facts about ants, which allows us to better understand these insects.

Anatomy

1. Ants don't have ears

Ants do not have traditional ears like humans. They “hear” by measuring vibrations. Special sensors on their knees and paws help them pick up vibrations in their environment.

2. Ants have the largest brains of any insect.

The ant brain consists of 250,000 cells, which is more than that of other insects. Some large colonies of ants may have as many brain cells as the average human.

3. Ants have two stomachs

Ants typically have two stomachs. One stomach is used for individual feeding of the insect, while the other is intended for exchanging food with other ants in the colony.

Reproduction

4. Ants have same-sex reproduction.

Some ant species reproduce by cloning through a process known as parthenogenesis. This type of reproduction is characterized by the emergence of females from unfertilized eggs (males do not take part in this). Ants can also reproduce sexually.

Colonies

5. Ants create incredibly large colonies

The largest ant colony is believed to cover an area of more than 5,800 km. It is so large that it covers several countries, including Italy, France and Spain. The colony consists of an Argentine ant species ( Linepithema humile).

Other interesting facts

6. Ants can become "zombies"

The largest living ants are approximately 3 to 5 centimeters long. Some ant fossils are even larger, reaching up to 6 centimeters in length.

8. Ants Can Survive Wet Conditions Associated with Floods

Ants breathe through specialized organs called spiracles. When their environment becomes too wet, due to a flood or other natural disaster, they are able to close their spiracles in order to survive. These insects can even stay underwater for certain period time.

9. Lifespan

While the standard lifespan of ants is 30-90 days, some queen ants can live for 20-30 years.

10. Wise ants

Did you know that ants were praised in the Bible? Proverb 6:6 says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard, look at his actions, and be wise.” Ants are used as examples of hard work and diligence.

11. Some ants are transparent

Some ants have transparent bodies. They are able to take on the color of any food they feed on.

12. Ants can protect themselves with acid.

Some species of ants may spray acid to get rid of unwanted competitors in their habitat or to protect themselves from potential threats.

Ants are common insects belonging to the order Hymenoptera. It is known that ants are responsible, strong, hard-working, and live in colonies, each of which has a queen (queen). However, it eats things that few people know about. Interesting facts about ants are fascinating and unusual for people.

Ants are predators. However, they keep their own livestock in the anthill, main role which is occupied by aphids. These insects take care of it, protect it from dangers, graze it, and milk it. The fact is that during the development process, aphids secrete a certain liquid that the ants like. As insects grow, they eat it. In other words: ants are the only living creatures that keep livestock (besides humans).
Ants have strict and clear responsibilities, which everyone should carry out “in good conscience”: builders, foragers, soldiers. If an individual fails to cope with its duties, it is executed, allowed to eat, or expelled from the colony, where it will not be able to enter again.
There are species of spiders that are very similar to ants. The only difference is 8 legs. This type spiders use this guise - with the exception of anteaters, not a single individual feeds on ants. Scientists have proven that such an individual is cunning and insidious: it specially bends 2 paws, penetrates the anthill, kills the insect and carries the deceased to its lair.
Ants are capable of caring. If an individual is weakened, insects are obliged to bring food and water until recovery. If an ant becomes crippled, individuals should show care as long as it needs it.
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Most ants are working class. The most interesting thing is that this class consists of only females who have not developed a reproductive system.
Individuals do not have the right to eat food that they have obtained on their own.. The insect must deliver food to the house, where the queen will distribute what she has found.
The queen lives for 15 years, during which she mates once. However, throughout life, the individual constantly produces offspring.
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If the insect does nothing without good reason, the individual is expelled from the colony. A similar thing happens with the queen - if an individual brings few offspring, the queen is expelled and a new leader is chosen.
Ants can yawn and stretch. If an insect has retracted all its legs, it is stretching; if he opens his jaws wide, he yawns. This phenomenon was announced by entomologist D. Morley, who monitored the behavior of ants for 3.5 weeks.
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Formic acid, secreted by insects throughout their lives, helps cope with gout, arthritis and rheumatism. This liquid has an analgesic effect.
All types of these insects are able to exist under water from 2 to 8 days, after which nothing will happen to the ants. However, they are not able to live permanently in such conditions.
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Individuals from any area are able to find their way home. The fact is that ants leave behind a trail of pheromones that guide insects home, thanks to a specific smell.
Insect colonies vary in size. Most of them consist of 10-50 individuals, but there are colonies of up to a million. In this case, the number of insects depends on the size of the anthill and the insects living in it. After all, 2-3 dozen are not able to feed millions of individuals.
There are 12,000 species of ants, varying in shape, size and color.. Individuals vary in length from 0.07 cm to 5. Today there are species no more than 1 cm long. The rest live in places where few people live.

Being one of the oldest biological species living on Earth, the ant family has been a valuable object of study for entomologists for many years. Which is not surprising! These tiny creatures have characteristics that are reflected in modern intelligent human society.

It's definitely worth learning more about this. So now the most interesting facts about ants will be listed. Same as for 3rd grade primary school, and for adults who want to learn more about this topic, they will be useful information.

Spreading

The degree of prevalence and numerous species of ants is amazing: insects live in almost all parts of the planet, with the exception of the eternally snow-covered Antarctica, and the number of species, according to various estimates, reaches from 13,500 to 14,000. Most of them live in the tropics.

An interesting fact about ants: about 290 species of these creatures live in Russia. The largest populations are found in the southern part of Latin America, the Amazon jungle, South and Central Africa. Ants living in the tropics and African savannas are especially aggressive.

Anatomy and food preferences

These insects vary both in size and in feeding preferences. But what they have in common is their anatomy.

Whether it is the most common black ant in the world, which has adapted better than others to life with humans, having a modest size, or Dinoponera gigantea, the world's largest representative of the family, living in South America and reaching 30 mm in length, all ants have approximately the same anatomy. It is expressed in the following structure: head with antennae, prothorax, abdomen, 6 legs.

The difference in anatomy is manifested only in color, the presence of chitinous formations on the heads of representatives of some species, as well as in the size of the grasping mandibles. Some species have quite toxic poison that can cause severe discomfort, itching and even an allergic reaction.

They feed depending on their habitat. Mainly household waste (crumbs, microparticles of food), if they are yellow, red or black house ants. In nature, they can eat aphids and plant sap. Some harmful species feed on wood. Aggressive, large, poisonous African ants are carnivores and can eat carrion or dying animals.

During the fattening period of the larvae, representatives of all species switch to a diet consisting of other insects. The harvester ant prefers microfungal organisms and seeds. Most species do not deny themselves the pleasure of tasting sweet fruits.

Progressive Insect Society

The main similarity between ant and human societies is the high dependence of their representatives and the inability to live in isolation. An interesting fact about ants: they, like people, are capable of cooperation and are inclined to share responsibilities, on the basis of which they form strata by type of activity. Their survival as a species over the years has depended not on evolution, but on their commitment to collectivism. This gave entomologists the basis to call multimillion-dollar ant colonies universal “superorganisms.”

Any species is characterized by hierarchy, structuring, caste society and sacrifice. Listing interesting facts from the life of ants for children, I would like to note that the castes of the society of these insects include “workers” and “scouts” (females deprived of reproductive function) who search for and obtain food, as well as soldiers (large individuals with strong mandibles) protecting the colony.

Distribution of roles

Males, whose main task is fertilization, are born less frequently than females and serve as inseminators. Their lifespan does not exceed several weeks. Females are more valuable and versatile. Since even infertile workers are capable of degenerating into full-fledged insects with normal reproductive function.

The queen ant is the largest female and lives 10-20 years. Its main task is to lay larvae. Some colonies may have multiple queens. In cases where the queen does not lay enough eggs, the ants are able to expel her and choose a new queen.

Another feature of these insects as a developed society is their ability to analyze the activities of their relatives. They recognize parasitism and exterminate idle ants. On the other hand, they are able to show care for wounded relatives. When one ant loses a limb and is unable to feed itself, others bring it food and give it the opportunity to get stronger instead of getting rid of the patient.

They are the only insects, who practice stealing pupae of ants of other species, which subsequently perform the same functions in the new anthill as native insects. This practice even has a name! It is customary to call this “ant slavery.”

Features of the anthill structure

They are also worth noting, telling interesting facts about ants for children. Few people know, but these insects are huge owners and do not allow uninvited guests to stay on their territory.

The “soldiers” are serving regularly. They protect common Home from attacks not only from insects, but also from ants of other species. The structure of the anthill itself is also interesting, which is a huge residential complex divided into sectors. The length of some of these “dwellings” is tens of kilometers.

It’s amazing how detailed and thoughtfully ants organize their life. The labor productivity of these insects is amazing. None other Living being unable to perform his or her duties smoothly on a day-to-day basis. The constant search for food, the processes of accumulation, preparation for wintering, reproduction, disposal of waste - all this must be taken into account when building an anthill.

Usually this structure looks like this: an elevated dome-shaped pile of twigs, blades of grass and forest litter with earth plays the role of an upper, heated sector, through which ventilation and access systems are laid sunlight. On lower levels food storage, wintering chambers, separate spacious room queens, a compartment for storing inorganic waste and building materials, places for storing eggs and aphids, as well as an ant cemetery where dead insects are stored.

And here’s another interesting fact about ants: these creatures are characterized by high cleanliness and a penchant for order, so researchers have repeatedly observed not only the transportation of food and building materials inside the anthill, but also its cleaning by workers.

Wintering

It does not correspond to traditional understandings of the meaning of this process. Characteristic of mammals " hibernation» is not familiar to all ants. Only some species fall into a state of suspended animation. In most cases, anthills are full of life even in winter.

To ensure comfortable well-being during the cold season, insects carefully seal all openings and transport food to moisture-protected areas of the anthill. The processes of reproduction of offspring during this period are suspended, due to considerations of saving provisions.

Few people know this interesting fact about ants: insects that hibernate in particularly harsh climatic conditions, are able to survive extreme drops in ambient temperature. In some cases, the larvae recorded a temperature of -50 degrees, after which they successfully came to life when the thaw set in.

The role of ants in nature

When telling interesting facts about ants for children, it is worth mentioning: there are species in their kingdom that make their home in the trunks of dead trees. Thus, they catalyze the process of wood decomposition.

Ants also actively interact with flora. They help spread plant seeds.

In gardening, their role is also quite important. Involuntarily in the course of my daily labor activity ants transport a huge amount of nutrients and minerals into the soil, and the waste products of ants perform the function of organic fertilizer.

Relationships with other insects

This topic should also be noted with attention, considering the most interesting facts about ants. Most of these creatures are quite hostile towards other insects. Due to the peculiarities of their set of instincts, they perceive any other creature as potential prey.

For an ant, there is no such thing as a “too big” or “overwhelming” animal. When spiders, caterpillars, crickets or other insects are in close proximity, they will attack without hesitation and literally disassemble them for “spare parts”. Therefore, ants do not get along well with other representatives of the insect world, and with small animals too.

At the same time, being progressive and highly organized representatives of the fauna, these creatures mastered “cattle breeding.” Corn ants have learned to contain aphids and feed on their secretions. The shepherd ant is independently capable of controlling the feeding process of a group of aphids. In some cases, anthills contain special premises where aphids live. Ants regularly deliver food there. By the same principle, representatives of the red species are able to graze the Cicada Nymph and feed on its nectar.

They wage a war of extermination with insects of another species. Perceiving black ants as competitors, red ants push them out of their territory.

Good to know

Continuing to list interesting facts about ants, it is worth noting whole line interesting nuances:

In fact, you can still list many interesting facts from the life of ants. But the ones above are considered the most entertaining. However, even after getting acquainted with them, many are surprised - such small creatures, but they are of such great interest.

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 extreme 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 ants, and they are distributed almost everywhere except Antarctica, people do not know all the 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.

A message about ants for children will tell you a lot useful information about these hardworking little insects.

About ants for children

Ant: description for children

You will never confuse an ant with other insects. They are very active, wingless, fussy and constantly on the move. In nature, you rarely see a single ant, even when they are away from home. Such insects are called workers. In one nest their number can range from a thousand to a million individuals. An ant family may have one queen or several. The queen is constantly in the nest and does not leave it, since her wings are too weak to fly. She makes only one flight - mating, and then on a warm, windless day.

After fertilization, the males die, and the females sink to the ground and shed their wings. They are looking for a secluded place where they can breed their offspring. However, worker ants often discover their hiding place and drag them into their nest. Thus, there can be several queens in one nest.

Where do ants live?

These insects live in nests or anthills. Ant nests are usually connected to the ground. They can be in the form of mounds of soil or made from the remains of vegetation. Such nests are most common. Some insects live without mounds, just in the soil, or they settle under stones or in wood.

How do ants live? Insect feeding

Mostly all ants are predators, feeding their larvae with insects and other animal food. The basis of their diet: caterpillars and larvae. Worker ants also consume flowering vegetation and milk aphids.

Children about an ant: how do they communicate?

To communicate with each other, they use a variety of signals: touching another ant with their feet, antennae or head. They also use chemical signals. If they are disturbed, the insects take a defensive position: they rise on their hind legs and slightly tilt their abdomen forward. The ant releases a special liquid, which consists of an alarm substance and formic acid.

Ants that live in the same nest have the same smell. In this way, they recognize each other and do not allow other insects into their home.

Ants are the oldest insects: they are more than 100 million years old. Today they can be found everywhere except Greenland, Iceland and Antarctica.
The main occupation of the insect is preparing food reserves for winter.
They only move in formation.
Some ants are very poisonous. For example, if you are bitten by a Paraponera clavata ant, the pain will last for more than a day.
Ants are the smartest insects. The brain consists of 250 thousand cells.
In Mexico, ant eggs are eaten. The dish is called "escamoles".

We hope that the essay about ants helped you prepare for the lesson. And you can leave your little story about ants using the comment form below.