Ants :D

Ants are one of the most successful groups of insects in the animal kingdom. They are social insects and make highly organized colonies or nests.

 This page belongs to Ivy Z.

Facts ~ 

Ants are tiny insects that may be pests. They never sleep, and only live up to a month and a half at most. Almost every part of the land is covered by ants. They have conquered most of the Earth. The only continent that doesn't have ants is Antarctica. There are as many 10,000 speices of ants! Each colony of ants have at least one queen. Their legs are really strong so they can move quickly. Ants' eyes are made up of smaller eyes. They are called compound eyes. Ants also have two stomachs. One is for food for itself, and the other is food for other ants.

Ants work daily, they find food and carry it back to the anthill. When they find food, they send only one searcher ant first then when the searcher ant comes back, they all go and get the food. If the searcher ant does not come back (it died), then the ants go somewhere else to find food. While some ants find food,  some ants help the queen ant back in the anthill.

The answer to the question what do ants eat is a simple one - they will eat almost anything! They are omnivorous, which means that they eat plants and animals. Ants love sugars and also need water to survive. They use their antennas to smell and to touch. Ants' mouths move sideways like scissors. Ants don't eat , but drink the juice from the prey. Different types of ants prefer different types of food. Some eat dead animals and other insects while some eat vegetables, plants, seeds, oils, and other sources of proteins.

regular ant (:                                           red ant :D

         ant trail ~        

Types of Ants:

Army Ants - largest ants in the world

Carpenter Ants - only 1/4 inch long, but the queen can be 3/4 inch long

Fire Ants - their stings are very painful

Little Black Ants - super duper small and related to the Pharaoh ant

Pharaoh Ants - can have 300,000 in one hive with multiple queens

Honey Ants - also closely related to the Pharaoh ant

Crazy Ants - self-explanatory; they run recklessly with no sense of direction

Yellow Citronella Ants - mostly found in New England

Weaver Ants - known for their nest building and communication

Big Head Ants - self-explanatory; they are mistaken for Fire ants sometimes

Slave Maker Ants - they will raid others colonies

Leaf Cutter Ants - they feed on specialized fungus

Jack Jumper Ants - a species of bulldog ants

Bulldog Ants - once found all over the world, but now restricted in Australia

Bullet Ants - can leave a 24 hour sting

Gliding Ants - can jump and have a 85% to land successfully on the same tree

Lemon Ants - they can live in the plants that they kill

Argentine Ants - a tiny dark ant

Theif Ants - self-explanatory; they raid others colonies

Where I Didn't Steal My Info From! :D 

Facts*source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ants & http://www.ehow.com/about_4606745_what-do-ants-eat.html

Types of Ants*source: http://www.antstuff.net/html/species_of_ants.html

Picture #1: http://myrmecos.files.wordpress.com/2008/04hum5.jpg

Picture #2: http://www.eurospiders.com/red_ant_1242.jpg

Picture #3: http://www.betterresponseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/crack2.jpg

Picture #4: http://familyfun.go.com/Resources/printable-previews/previews/ant_colorpage_august8.jpg

Picture #5: http://libzine.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/ants.jpeg