Ants

This animal is under construction and should be finished by October the 1st.

Ants are among the smallest animals in the world. They live all over the world and can have giant nests and complex colonies. They will happily live in a wide range of conditions, including gaps in brickwork, patios and even in houses. So lets take a deep dive into ants and why we should respect them.

Diet

Ants have two types of food: Sugar and protein. Sugar is usually found in fruit, like apples, grapes and bananas. It gives ants instant energy so they can work in their colony and move heavy things around.

Protein is in bugs, like crickets and flies, but sometimes ants will grab bits of small animals. When ants find protein, they will bring it back to the nest so they can feed larvae and the queen. Queens use their protein for making eggs. Eggs are then laid and hatch into larvae after 1-2 weeks. You can look more closely at an ant’s “Life Cycle” below.

Fact: Some ants actually eats seeds. These ants are known as Harvester ants.

Habitat

Ants live in big groups called Colonies. Ant colonies are widely know to have Queens, which keeps the colony alive. Interestingly, the Queens are not in charge and the worker ants actually make the decisions instead. Worker ants actually have different roles: Looking after the queen, caring for the brood, guarding the nest and scavenging for resources like materials, water and food.

Colonies build nests in the ground, and sometimes they can be found in very strange places. When it rains, parts of the nest can become damp, which is the ideal condition for brood as they need bits of moister to stay alive. As the colony grows, the nest does too. But if the nest gets too big, like if they live in a bag of sand, they will have to move. So they send out worker ants to explore the area around the nest to see if they can find a bigger and better home.

Behaviour

Ant behaviour is rather marvellous. It incudes communication, roles, and foraging paths.