{"id":106,"date":"2020-08-14T10:08:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T10:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keepingbugs.com\/?page_id=106"},"modified":"2020-08-14T10:08:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T10:08:06","slug":"basic-ant-info","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/keepingbugs.com\/basic-ant-info\/","title":{"rendered":"An introduction on the biology of ants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This page gives you information about the biology of ants. What for species are ants, how do they live and what is their natural habitat. Despite being small creatures, you do not want to underestimate ants. They have an incredible social structure living in colonies. The most common pet ant species are the black garden ant (Lasius niger<\/em>), the harvester ant (Messor barbarus<\/em>), the red ant (Myrmica rubra<\/em>) and the leaf-cutter ant (Atta sexdens<\/em>). You can find more in-depth information about the species on this page<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ants<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Formicidae<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1.5mm (0.02″) – 52mm (2″)<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Average workers 1mg – 5mg<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Workers<\/em>: a few weeks to several months
Queens<\/em>: multiple years
Males<\/em>: a few days<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Anatomy and morphology of ants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ants belong to the phylum Anthropods, which means they have an exoskeleton. The exoskeleton is a fundamental part of the anatomy of ants. We have our skeleton as the backbone on the inside of our body. Ants have a skeleton on the outside, protecting the vital organs and muscles inside. Even though they have their skeleton on the outside, they can manoeuvre pretty quick still. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their body exists of three main parts: the head, thorax and abdomen. Ants are distinctive in that they have a special segment between the thorax and abdomen: the so-called petiole. This very tiny segment makes it possible for ants to bent their abdomen beneath their body to spray poison to the enemy from their abdominal glands as a defence mechanism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The external<\/a> and internal<\/a> anatomy of ants (Photo: antARK<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To their central thorax ants have six legs and on their head two antennae and compound eyes. They have two big jaws called mandibles and aren’t afraid to use them when they are attacked. Some ants have wings (these are the queen and kings, as we will discuss in the section about castes<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ants come in many different colours, with many having black, brown, yellow and red coloured body parts. There are around 12.500 different ants species described, but the total is estimated at around 22.000 species. They can be found all over the world and are a very successful species in survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social structure <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All ant species live in colonies. There exist no ant species that live a solitary life. Ants have strictly divided tasks, and every ant is born to that task until it dies. Colonies can be as big as several million individuals and as small as a dozen or so, depending on the ant species. The social structure is quite impressive. We will talk about eusocialism and the caste system in the sections below. But we start with the life cycle of ants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The life cycle of ants (Photo: Tate Holbrook, ASU<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The life cycle of ant colonies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What does the lifecycle of an ant colony look like? A queen<\/strong> will found a colony. She is the only reproductive individual of the colony. After she established a good location for her colony, she will start laying eggs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ant life starts out as an egg. Ant eggs<\/strong> are tiny in size and often white oval-shaped. Some eggs are destined to become eaten by nestmates for extra nutrition, but most eggs will hatch into larvae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ant larvae<\/strong> are worm-shaped and do not have eyes or legs. Larvae are cared for by workers of the colony, or in the founding stage of a colony by the queen. They need a constant supply of food to grow, where they moult several times between sizes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ants have a complete metamorphosis – larvae will metamorphose in ant pupae<\/strong> to an adult. Pupae are already shaped more like ants. You can distinguish a head, abdomen and legs. Pupae are white-coloured at the beginning, but slowly turn darker to the colour the ants have (mostly brownish). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the pupae emerge adult ants<\/strong>. When adults are newly hatched, they are light in colour, but will eventually become darker when they get older. Adults are mostly born as a female worker, but at some stages of the colony, they are born as new queens or males (king). Find more about the caste system<\/a> of ants below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A newly hatched winged female (queen) in the fungus garden of leaf-cutter ants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eusocialism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The eusocial system is described as the highest social system in nature. It is defined by three characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations of adults within the colony, and a division of labour into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such division creates specialized groups within the colony where the “workers and soldiers” work together to create a living situation favourable for the brood, without producing their own offspring. Only the queen lays all the eggs. This social system is not much seen in species. One of the most known species that have adopted this social system is bees. However, you can find this social system with wasps, termites and naked mole rats too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From an evolutionary point of view, such a social structure does not seem stable at all. Within the evolution theory, genes pass through based on the survival and fitness of the parents. Why does this social system work then? The workers, which are all female, include the same gene subset as the queen. So workers that care for the brood in a colony also take care of the genes they possess themself, and their sisters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colonies have more benefits. It is more powerful to take care of offspring with many than if you need to do it alone. And it is the same as a herd of zebras; you can count on each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a very complex system and goes beyond this article to explain in detail on here. If you want to know more about this social structure I can recommend you to read this article<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Territories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another advantage of social life is the ability to make ground and draw up your territories. Ants can control huge areas where they gather the materials they need to survive. They are only focused on their own colony, that they are killing other insects, other ants and even their own ant species from other colonies if it is a treat to their colony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Territories of ant are continuously at war with each other to control more ground. More ground means more food supplies. For this reason, you can never merge two existing colonies together. They are going to fight until one colony is left over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some colonies unite over a large area and form a supercolony. Within a supercolony, aggression is avoided, and ant nest are connected by underground passages or road work above ground. There are at least five supercolonies recognized in the world: Japan, Southern Europe, Australia, America and Switzerland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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