10 Things About Ants You Didn't Know

• 1

  They Are Smarter Than You Think

  

  The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant. They are known to be the smartest species of insects with about 250,000 brain cells
  
  

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• 2

  Agriculture

  

  Ants began farming about 50 million years before humans thought to raise their own crops. The earliest evidence suggests ants started using agriculture as early as 70 million years ago in the early Tertiary period. Even more amazing, these ants use sophisticated horticultural techniques to enhance their crop yields. They secrete chemicals with antibiotic properties to inhibit mold growth, and devised fertilization protocols using manure. Leafcutter Ants grow mushrooms to feed their colony, a notoriously difficult thing to grow... requiring an enormously sophisticated system of vents and tunnels to control the humidity and temperature.

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• 3

  Warfare Techniques

  

  Separate species, or hostile factions of the same species, may be seen massed in combat, which can be continued for hours, days or weeks. Some of the most extensive battles observed have been fought between Pavement Ants, but there have been massive battles between Argentinian supercolonies that have left millions of ants dead in days. And not just head-to-head battles are fought either, psychological warfare between species has been witnessed as well. Amazon ants (also known for taking slaves) have been observed surrounding an enemy nest and simply sitting and waiting while their victims became more and more frenzied by the camped-out menace. After two entire days, the Amazons attacked, easily defeating their enemies who had been unable to forage and were disorganized and panicked from the seige.
  
  
  By combining force of numbers with organized aggression, ants have become the greatest insect killers on Earth -- even of their own kind.
  
  
  

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• 4

  Numbers

  

  Ants make up 1/10 of the total world animal tissue. The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is roughly equal to the total biomass of all the people on Earth.

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• 5

  Supercolonies

  

  Invasive Argentine ants (these are the little black ants we in LA often see in our bathrooms and around the kitchen sink - they come in for water) form large supercolonies in California. These colonies stretch for hundreds of miles and include millions of nests. Ants from different nests of the same colony rarely show aggression toward each other. The largest supercolony in southern California extends some 600 miles and borders three smaller colonies.
  
  Also, you have to watch that video. It shows a massive excavated ant colony that reached 20 feet deep.

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• 6

  Lifespan

  Workers only live for about 45-60 days, but a colony's queen can live up to 20 years. And when she dies, the colony can only survive a few months after that at best. Queens are only rarely replaced.

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• 7

  Carnivores

  In Africa and tropical parts of Asia, there are ants that are capable of killing and consuming anything in their massed path. Sometimes called driver ants, safari ants, or siafu, these ants are powerful hunters that can number over 20 million to a colony, and they use those numbers to their advantage.
  
  When Driver Ants are on the march, nothing in their path is safe. They've been known to kill tethered horses, human babies, and have even been used to execute criminals. Soldier ants stand guard over the marching column. The river of ants divides, spreading out over the forest floor. Few victims escape once the ants get a grip. Millions act like a fearsome super-organism emerging from its lair, sending out long tentacles of marching workers to engulf its prey. Soldiers form living archways over the columns, and hold back twigs and leaves. It's a genuine team effort. The ants return home, carrying their spoils underground, where millions of developing grubs are waiting to be fed. Driver ants kills almost everything within range of their nests (up to 100,000 animals in a day), and relocate from time to time to find enough food. Most of their prey are arthropods such as insects and spiders, but army ants can also kill larger animals such as lizards, snakes, chickens, and small mammals. They also climb trees and attack birds in nests.
  
  During flood season in parts of Asia, these massive (sometimes 1/4 mile long) columns will combine themselves into a water-tight ball, connecting together with all their strength. The column floats, safe, on the surging waves til the ball of ants finds dry land again. Pity whatever living things live near it's landing spot once that big ball of killer ants unravels.

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• 8

  Ranchers

  Ants farm, they gather, they hunt, and they also raise animals. Aphids, specifically. These are ranching ants.
  
  Honey ants feed off the sweet "honey" that aphids secrete. The ants milk them like cows. Aphid-herding ants make sure their "cattle" stay well-fed and safe. They chose a plant where the Aphids can feed in peace and they guard it religiously to protect their stock. When the host plant is depleted of nutrients, the ants carry their aphids to a new food source. If predatory insects or parasites attempt to harm their wards, the ants will defend them aggressively. Some honey ants even go so far as to destroy the eggs of known aphid predators like ladybugs.

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• 9

  Slavery

  The Slave-Maker ant is so named because it raids the nest of other ants and steals their pupae. Once the pupae hatch, they are made to work as slaves within the colony.
  
  Actually, quite a few ant species will take captives from other ant species, forcing them to do chores for their own colony. Some honeypot ants will even enslave ants of the same species, taking individuals from foreign colonies to do their bidding. Amazon ants raid the colonies of unsuspecting Formica ants. The Amazon queen will find and kill theFormica queen, then enslave the Formica workers. The slave workers help her rear her own brood. When her Polyergus offspring reach adulthood, their sole purpose is to raid other Formicacolonies and bring back their pupae, ensuring a steady supply of slave workers.

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• 10

  Castes

  

  The Queen -- They are usually larger than the workers, they have a bigger thorax than the workers and this is due to the wing muscles of the queen. The abdomen is usually larger to, to hold all the egg producing organs. Once the queen has founded a new colony her only job will be to produce more ants, workers, males or future queens. Queens are the longest living of the three castes and can produce thousands of eggs in her life time.
  
  Males -- Male ants are normally the smallest of the castes, they have only one role in life - to inseminate a virgin queen during the mating flight. Once they have performed this task they die within a few days.
  
  Workers -- Worker ants are the ants that carry out the daily tasks of the colony such as foraging, brood care, nest repair and defence, and taking care of the queen. These are the ants you will see out and about in the world. Although all worker ants are female they generally do not lay eggs -- however, in certain cases they do lay eggs but these are normally used as food. If the worker laid eggs, which are unfertilised, are allowed to develop they will produce male ants; this may be allowed to happen if the queen of the colony has died.
  
  Soldiers -- Although soldiers are not found in British species of ant, these members of the colony have a huge head which is packed with muscle. The main job of this caste is defence of the nest.
  
  

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