Ants :: essays research papers

Ants belong to an order of insects called Hymenoptera; this group also includes bees, wasps, and sawflies. They belong to the insect family Formicidae meaning ‘ant family’. There are over 60 genre existing in North America comprising hundreds of different species on this continent alone. There are many different kinds of ants all over the world. Some kinds of ants among the best known are: fire ants, army ants, carpenter ants, driver ants, harvester ants, weaver ants, fungus- gardening ants, aphid- tending ants, honeypot ants, and acacia ants. Ants can be found in many places such as soil, leaf litter, rotting wood and dead trees. Ants live all over the world, except for the Arctic and Antarctic and some islands, also on the coldest mountain tops. They are most abundant in the tropical rainforests and other tropical regions. All ants are social. In fact they are the only insects in which all species are social. Large groups of ants live in colonies or communities together. In the majority of ants, colonies are families or groups of related families. These groups consist of one or more queens, who rule the colony, and males, whose only job is to fertilize the queen and then die soon after. The workers in the colony are only females. These workers are divided into several working classes including: enlargement and repair of the nest, taking care of the larvae, tending to the queen, defending the colony, and foraging for food. The shape of the ant head can be oval shaped, spherical, triangular or even rectangular; it differs among species. All ants have an opening in the back of their head, through which the beginning of the digestive tract, nerves and blood pass through. Inside the mouth are three different parts. The mandibles, or jaws, are long and broad and are toothed, or serrated. Ants use their mandibles for collecting and carrying food, digging, building nests, cutting and fighting. The maxillae, or lower jaws, are used to extract liquids from foods. Ants use their tongues for sucking up the liquid food. Also two pairs of slender palpi are inside the mouth, that resemble antennae, and play an important role in eating. Ants have two compound eyes each are made of light-sensitive compartments called ommatidia. Other types of ants have three simple eyes called ocelli on the tops of their heads. Different species have developed sight, but some are completely blind.