In just a few days, ants can turn a pile of earth into a skyscraper in their world. It is amazing how these tiny insects can create a complex spongy system with different levels connected by a network of tunnels without a blueprint or the same leader. Anthills, as a rule, come in completely different sizes and can exist from several days to several hundred years (Viles et al., 2021). However, the most astonishing thing is that ants have applied this knowledge for thousands of years. Ants adhere to a special rhythm of life, distribute roles, and have body features that allow them to communicate and survive for centuries.
House ants are social insects with over 12,000 different species. These insects belong to the Hymenoptera; they evolved from wasp-like ancestors approximately 110-130 million years ago (Sclocco & Teseo, 2020). A typical ant colony includes three types of insects: a queen, workers (females), and drones (fertile males). The queen lays eggs, the drones mate with the queen, while the worker ants perform tasks such as gathering food, building a colony, and more (Hagan & Gloag, 2021). Female worker ants are part of a subgroup called soldiers that protect their fellows. Thus, ants have an unbreakable division of duties that allows them to exist confidently.
The sense of smell for ants is much more important than vision, which is poor. An ant deprived of antennae loses the ability to find its way to the nest, ceases to recognize adults and larvae of its species, and does not participate in construction. Moving its antennae, the ant sniffs and feels all the oncoming objects (Freas & Cheng, 2022). By smell, ants recognize ‘own’ and ‘strangers’ and find their way to the anthill (Freas & Cheng, 2022). These insects release chemicals called pheromones that can trigger certain reactions in other animals of the same species. It allows the ants to keep in touch with their family and communicate.
Alarmed ants also secrete special substances that act as a kind of fire bell: they act as an alarm signal to other nearby ants. For example, they have a plan of salvation from the water element. Some ants react even to a single drop of water that has fallen into the entrance of the anthill: they begin to run around the nest, declaring an alarm, and then run to other open entrances (Kannan et al., 2022). By leaving a trail as a smell, they show the rest of the ants the way to unblocked passages leading to the outside and sometimes leading them out of the nest (Czaczkes, 2022). In the same way, they mark the path to food with odorous marks, scaring away other ants from the found food, which allows them to support their family and contributes to survival.
In general, both young and old individuals feed on different foods. The larvae, however, feed on liquid matter supplied by the worker ants (Ferguson et al., 2021). Worker ants travel in search of food and eat everything available to them. The food the worker ants return to the colony is butchered (Reznikova, 2021). It is interesting that some adult ants do not eat at all after reaching a certain age (Reznikova, 2021). Other ants can be herbivores and predators and work as scavengers.
Thus, ants are very organized and live in colonies, and each type of ant has specific functions. They use chemicals not only for communication but also to develop specific patterns of behavior, as well as the distribution of social functions among members of the colonies. These chemicals are important not only for communication but also to develop certain patterns of behavior, as well as the distribution of social functions among members of the colonies. By releasing specific chemicals, they can sound an alarm or stampede, and they also point worker ants in the direction of a food source. Without antennae, the normal behavior of the insect is immediately and completely disrupted.
References
Czaczkes, T. J. (2022). Advanced cognition in ants. Myrmecological News, 32, 51–64. Web.
Ferguson, S. T., Bakis, I., & Zwiebel, L. J. (2021). Advances in the study of olfaction in eusocial ants. Insects, 12(3), 252. Web.
Freas, C. A., & Cheng, K. (2022). The basis of navigation across species. Annual Review of Psychology, 73(1), 217–241. Web.
Hagan, T., & Gloag, R. (2021). Founder effects on sex determination systems in invasive social insects. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 46, 31–38. Web.
Kannan, K., Galizia, C., & Nouvian, M. (2022). Olfactory strategies in the defensive behaviour of insects. Insects, 13(5), 470. Web.
Reznikova, Z. (2021). Ants’ personality and its dependence on foraging styles: Research perspectives. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. Web.
Sclocco, A., & Teseo, S. (2020). Microbial Associates and social behavior in ants. Artificial Life and Robotics, 25(4), 552–560. Web.
Viles, H. A., Goudie, A. S., & Goudie, A. M. (2021). Ants as geomorphological agents: A global assessment. Earth-Science Reviews, 213, 103469. Web.