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Life in the Ant ColonyIn this article we will discuss the types of ants. This is a perfect time of year to go outside and find ants to study. Three types of ants inhabit the ant‘s colony, workers, males and queens. All of the workers are female. The females do all of the work in the colony. They provide food, care for the unborn ants, clean the nest, build the nest and protect the colony. The type of nest depends on the type of ant. Nests can be in lumber, below ground, above ground in trees or there may be no nest at all. The males have wings and do not work. Their contribution to the colony is to fertilize the queens. Once they fertilize the queen, they die. The life span of a male ant is about eight weeks. The queens job is to produce offspring. She spends her time laying eggs and does no other work. The queens are much larger than any of the other ants in the colony and are born with two sets of wings. Once the queen mate in flight they lose those wings. The queens can live nearly twenty years. The queen lays thousands of eggs, some are fertilized, some are not.. The fertilized eggs will hatch into females and the unfertilized eggs will hatch into males. As the queen lays the eggs the workers move the eggs to a special chamber. The workers lick clean the eggs regularly. The eggs hatch as larvae. Larvae eat solid food which the workers provide. As the larvae grow they molt and then grow new skin. When the last molt occurs, they are then considered pupae. The pupae will go through a metamorphosis and turn into the adult ants. Some types of ant pupae will actually form a cocoon with their saliva. The process takes about three months for them to mature from egg to adult. Quick fact- Metamorphosis is the scientific word for change.
Ants use several forms of communication. Ants touch their antennae to communicate. They also use pheromones as communication. Pheromones are stinky chemicals excreted from glands throughout the ants body. These chemicals are received by other ants antennae. Pheromones are used to alert other ants of danger, mark trails, identify each other, enlist the help of other ants and scare off enemies. Try this- Go outside and find ants following each other in a line or trail. Use a bar of soap to rub a section along the trail. Rub the soap across a wide section of the trail. See if the ants still follow the trail. Do the make a new trail? Ants follow a path of pheromones, so how would the soap affect the trail? Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Life in the Ant Colony in Homeschool Science is owned by Lisa Hawkins. Permission to republish Life in the Ant Colony in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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