
Ants are common insects, but they have some unique capabilities. More than 10,000 known ant species occur around the world. They are especially prevalent in tropical forests, where they may be up to half of all the insects living in some locations. Ants look much like termites, and the two are often confused—especially by nervous homeowners. However, ants have a narrow "waist" between the abdomen and thorax, which termites do not. Ants also have large heads, elbowed antennae, and powerful jaws. These insects belong to the order Hymenoptera, which includes wasps and bees. Enthusiastically social insects, ants typically live in structured nest communities that may be located underground, in ground-level mounds, or in trees. Carpenter ants nest in wood and can be destructive to buildings. Some species, such as army ants, defy the norm and do not have permanent homes, instead seeking out food for their enormous colonies during periods of migration. Ant communities are headed by a queen or queens, whose function in life is to lay thousands of eggs that will ensure the survival of the colony. Workers (the ants typically seen by humans) are wingless females that never reproduce, but instead forage for food, care for the queen's offspring, work on the nest, protect the community, and perform many other duties. Male ants often have only one role—mating with the queen. After they have performed this function, they may die. Ants communicate and cooperate by using chemicals that can alert others to danger or lead them to a promising food source. They typically eat nectar, seeds, fungus, or insects. However, some species have diets that are more unusual. Army ants may prey on reptiles, birds, or even small mammals. One Amazon species (Allomerus decemarticulatus) cooperatively builds extensive traps from plant fiber. These traps have many holes and, when an insect steps on one, hundreds of ants inside use the openings to seize it with their jaws. Another species, the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), is capable of forming so-called supercolonies that house multiple queens. On Australia’s Christmas Island, the accidental introduction of yellow crazy ants in the early 20th century has led to a destructive infestation. The ants are a significant threat to the island’s endemic population of red crabs, which are displaced by the ants from their burrows or killed as they pass through ant nest sites during the crabs' large-scale annual migration from the forest to the coast.
Contents
Roles
- It played Trini/Yellow Ranger in Beastly Morphin Power Rangers
Gallery
Is a Crocodile a Reptile?
Books
Bernard Stonehouse
Bug Dictionary
Spiders and Other Creepy-Crawlies
Nature's Deadliest Creatures
- Characters
- Animals
- North American Animals
- South American Animals
- European Animals
- Asian Animals
- African Animals
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- Insects
- The Lion King Animals
- Ed, Edd n Eddy Animals
- A Bug's Life Animals
- Tinga Tinga Tales Animals
- Stanley Animals
- Tom and Jerry Animals
- 64 Zoo Lane Animals
- Elliot Moose Animals
- Heroes of Might and Magic Animals
- Dexter's Laboratory Animals
- Happy Tree Friends Animals
- Zoobabu Animals
- Jumanji Animals
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- It's a Big Big World Animals
- The Ant Bully Animals
- Omnivores
- My Little Pony Animals
- Kolmården Wildlife Park Animals
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- Doodle God Animals
- Billy Dilley's Super Duper Subterranean Summer Animals
- JumpStart Animals
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- Woody Woodpecker Animals
- The Lion Guard Animals
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- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Animals
- Flushed Away Animals
- Jungle Beat Animals
- WordWorld Animals
- Eric Carle Animals
- DuckTales Animals
- SpongeBob SquarePants Animals
- The Secret Life of Pets Animals
- Small Characters
- Bug Dictionary Animals
- Deadly Creatures Dictionary Animals
- Weird Animals Dictionary Animals
- The Dictionary of Ordinary Extraordinary Animals Animals
- Animal Parade Animals
- My First Book of Animals from A to Z Animals
- How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly Animals
- How to Swallow a Pig Animals
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey Animals
- Buzzy the Knowledge Bug Series Animals
- Scholastic Encyclopedia Of Animals Animals
- How to Clean a Hippopotamus Animals
- Poisonous/Venomous Animals
- Predator Showdown Animals
- Is a Crocodile a Reptile Animals
- The Jungle Bunch Animals
- Flying Frogs and Walking Fish Animals
- An A to Z Walk in the Park Animals
- Over 100 Questions and Answers to Things You Want to Know Animals
- The Animal Atlas Animals
- Top 10 Countdowns of the Biggest, Baddest, and Loudest Animals
- 8: An Animal Alphabet Animals
- Living Color Animals
- The Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia Animals
- Creepy Crawlies (Over 100 Questions and Answers to Things You Want to Know) Animals
- Desert Animals (Over 100 Questions and Answers to Things You Want to Know) Animals
- Jungle Animals (Over 100 Questions and Answers to Things You Want to Know) Animals
- Clint Twist Animals
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Animals
- Steve Jenkins Animals
- The Incredibles Animals
- The A to Z Book of Wild Animals Animals
- Illumination Entertainment Animals
- Ask an Animal Animals
- The Giant Book Of Creatures Of The Night Animals
- Bernard Stonehouse Animals
- Partners (Bernard Stonehouse) Animals
- The Truth About Animal Senses Animals
- The Truth About Animal Communication Animals
- The Truth About Animal Builders Animals
- Eye Wonder Animals
- Rain Forest (Eye Wonder) Animals
- The Lion King (2019) Animals
- Eyes On Nature Animals
- Wild Creatures (Eyes On Nature) Animals
- Weird Creatures (Eyes On Nature) Animals
- DK Encyclopedia Of Animals Animals
- Alphabet Zoo Animals
- The Usborne Internet-Linked First Encyclopedia of Animals Animals
- Jerry Pallotta Animals
- The Icky Bug Alphabet Book Animals
- Bugs A-Z Animals
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Animals
- The Angry Beavers Animals
- My Top 20 Extreme Animals Animals
- The Kingfisher Illustrated Encyclopedia of Animals Animals
- A Curious Collection Of Animals Animals
- The Animal Book (Steve Jenkins) Animals
- Catscratch Animals
- Robot and Monster Animals
- Danny Phantom Animals
- Hero Factory Animals
- 100 Most Feared Creatures Animals
- Horton Hears a Who! Animals
- My Life as a Teenage Robot Animals
- Rocket Power Animals
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- My Dad the Rock Star Animals
- Rocket Monkeys Animals
- Incredible Animals A to Z Animals
- Cyberchase Animals
- Gravity Falls Animals
- Disney Animals
- Pixar Animation Studios Animals
- Nature's Deadliest Creatures Animals
- Steve Parker Animals
- Let's Explore the Jungle Animals
- Humongous Entertainment Animals
- Non-Disney Animals
- Heather Dakota Animals
- Poison (Heather Dakota) Animals
- Fangs (Heather Dakota) Animals
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Animals
- Black Animals
- DreamWorks Animals
- Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty Animals
- Dora the Explorer Animals
- Bizarre Beasts Animals
- Nam Nguyen Animals
- Micro Monsters Animals
- Wild, Wild World Animals
- Spiders and Other Creepy-Crawlies Animals
- I See a Kookaburra Animals
- Amazing Animal Facts Animals
- The Amazing Book of Insect Records Animals
- Planet Earth Animals
- Planet Earth: Amazing Animals of the Rainforest Animals
- Planet Earth: Big World, Small World Animals
- Planet Earth: Animals and Their Prey Animals
- A Whale Is Not a Fish Animals
- 100 Facts: Venom Animals
- Blue's Clues Animals
- Kruger National Park Animals
- Peppa Pig Animals
- The Smurfs Animals
- King of the Hill Animals
- Toy Story Animals
- Cars Animals
- Ni Hao Kai Lan Animals
- Jonny Quest Animals
- Scandinavian Animals
- DK First Animal Encyclopedia Animals
- Teen Titans Animals
- Over the Garden Wall Animals
- Alligator to Zebra ABC's: Learning Your ABC's with Animals Animals
- The Usborne World of Animals Animals
- How Animals Live Animals
- Zoboomafoo Animals
- Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies Animals
- Minuscule Animals
- Futurama Animals
- Puppy Dog Pals Animals
- Antz Characters
- Riley's Adventures Animals
- 1000 Ways To Die Animals
- American Museum of Natural History Animals
- ABC Insects (American Museum of Natural History) Animals
- Robin Page Animals
- ABC Rainforest (American Museum of Natural History) Animals
- Dolittle (2020) Animals
- Meet The Robinsons Animals
- Rio Animals
- Rio 2 Animals
- Our Planet Animals
- Animals United Animals
- Animaniacs Animals
- Alphabetimals Animals
- Pets (1995) Animals
- Morphle Animals
- Ants
- Roger Priddy Animals
- Rainforest (Smart Kids) Animals
- Rodeo Stampede Animals
- Antz Animals
- Simba the King Lion Animals
- Jock the Hero Dog Animals
- Winnie the Pooh Animals