Ants
Last Review/Updated: May 31, 2002
Ants
are insects related closely to bees and wasps. They are found almost
everywhere.
- backyards, gardens, forests, meadows
- wherever there is food.
Some ants "ranch" or "herd" aphids to obtain the sweet honeydew excretions produced bv these plant-feeding insects. Honeydew is taken back to the nest for food. Some ants are peaceful, but others are not. Slaver ants raid the nests of other ants and take the larvae and pupae. When the larvae and pupae emerge as adults, they work as slaves in the new nest until they die. There may be up to a million ants in one nest. All those from the same nest have the same scent. Ants "smell" each other by using scent detectors on their antennae, or "feelers." By the scent, they can tell friend from foe. Everywhere a worker goes, she leaves a scent trail that she and others can follow to a food source or back to the nest. Only the queen lays eggs. All worker and soldier ants are sterile females. The only ants with wings are males and new queens. They leave the nest in spring and summer to mate in the air. The males then die, and the queens start new nests.
