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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Ants introduction

Ants are found all over the world, from the hottest deserts to the lush green rainforests. We can find them in our backyards, in our homes, and even in our workplaces. Ants live in colonies and a single colony may have over a million ants.

There are several different types of ants. Some of the better-known varieties are the army ants, driver ants, honeypot ants, weaver ants, leafcutter ants, fire ants, silver ants, and bulldog ants. All ant colonies are comprised of three types of ants, namely the worker ants, the soldier ants, and the single queen ant.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are large black or black and brown ants. They are most active during the evening hours, especially during the warm summer months. They are called carpenter ants because of their habit of hollowing out wood to create a nesting site.

We don't encounter carpenter ants all that often in the Fresno metro area. They are not a major pest problem on the San Joaquin Valley floor. They are, however, a very serious pest problem to structures in our mountain communities, such as Bass Lake, Yosemite, Shaver Lake, Huntington Lake, etc.

Army Ants

The nests of the army ants are quite different from that of any other ants. The nests are made up of the ants themselves. They form walls in the nest in a structured way so that the queen and the eggs are protected and there are enough chambers and corridors for other activities like, transportation of food.

Ant brains

The brain of the ant has about 250,000 brain cells, which is the largest among all the insects. As compared to humans with 10,000 million brain cells, a colony of 40,000 ants is same as a human. The combined weight of all the ants in the world is approximately the same or greater than the combined weight of all human beings.

CONCLUSION

Ants are insects living in colonies with a highly specialized and complex social organization. In the scientific classification, these organisms belong to the Arthropoda Phylum, Insecta class, Hymenoptera order, Aprocrita sub-order and the formicidae family. Belonging to the Insecta class the ant body is anatomically divided into 3 main parts -- the head, thorax and abdomen.