Ants
Ants are one of the tiniest and most annoying insect that we can think of. Yet, despite their disgusting nobility they are seen by scientists as earth’s most successful species because there are over 20,000 different species of them. These interesting insects have many different types of homes that they build themselves. We all know the most common home is the one they build out of dirt and sand. Other homes that we would probly not recognize so easily are ones that they build using not only dirt, but also sticks. These homes are more durable and are protected most of the time from the rain.
Inside each of these homes are many rooms that are connected by different tunnels. Ants use these rooms for different uses including, food storage, a place for the baby ants, and a place for the worker to rests. Instead of building a home, army ants go out in a pack and hunt for food all the time. Western harvester ants make thier homes by creating a small mound on top of the dirt and then creating a tunnel at least 15ft. deep where they hibernate for the winter.
The body of an ant is consisted of three main parts; the head, the trunk, and the metasoma(the rear). The head is made up of the eyes, the jaws, and the atennae. Ants are able to see movement well because of the many lenses that make up the eye. The antennae are special organs that allwo the ant to smell, touch, taste, and hear. The trunk is made up of the legs and the metasoma is made up of the stomach and the rectum. There are some species of ants that have poisonous stingers or sacks that are attached to the metasoma. These poison parts are used in defense against their enemies.
One thing that is unusual about these tiny creatures and that is hard to fathom is that these creatures do not have any lungs. So how do they breath? An ants body has tiny holes all along its body where oxygen enters through and carbon dioxide leaves out of. The very tiny heart of an ant is a long tube that pumps blood from the head to the rear and back again. The nervous system on an ant is like a spinal cord on a human. Their nervous system is made up of a long nerve that runs down from the head to the rear. There are smaller nerves that branch off of the main one that run to other parts of the body.
If you look carefully usually when you see an ant there are always more around. That is because ants gather together in colonies and groups that are made up of millions of ants. There are three types of ants in each colony; the queen, the female workers, and the males. The males have a quick and painless job, they have to mate with the future queen. Unfortunately for them they don’t live for very long. The queen also has an easy job. When she reaches adulthood she mates with the male and spends the rest of her days laying eggs.
While most colonies only have one queen, there are some that may have more then one depending on the type of sepcies. The female worker gets to do all the hard labor and is sterile, which means they are unable to lay any eggs. Ants are able to communicate with each other through the use of their antennae. They also secrete chemicals called pheromones, which they use to leave a trail for other ants to follow.