At first glance, an anthill may seem like a chaotic heap of coniferous needles, branches, earth and grass. In fact, a real city lives its own life inside this unsightly heap. Each of its inhabitants knows his place, everything here is subject to the strictest routine. These tiny insects, which do not have a highly developed intelligence, capture any territory suitable for their existence.
Ants: general characteristics
Ants are insects that live in almost all corners of our planet, with the exception of Greenland and Antarctica, as well as some oceanic islands. They settled not only steppes, forests, but also deserts. There are 13.5 thousand species of ants, 300 of which are common in our country.
Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera, type of arthropod, class of insects, family of ants. These are social insects with a clear division into three castes: males, females, and also working individuals. These little hardworking creatures cannot live alone, soalways create colonies.
Physiological characteristics
In the structure of the body of these insects, there are three parts covered with a chitinous shell: the head, as well as the chest and abdomen connected by a thin waist. The eyes, which consist of many lenses, distinguish movement, but do not give a clear image. Ants move with the help of six thin legs with claws at the ends, which allow the insect to climb up.
Antennae, arranged segmentally, located on the head. These are the organs of touch, which not only capture smells, but also feel the vibration of the soil and the movement of air currents. The structural features of the insect and the size of the ants depend on their species, as well as the status occupied in the colony. On average, it ranges from 1 mm to 3 cm.
The largest individuals in some species are females, in others their size is no larger than the size of workers. Females have wings that fall off after the mating season. The color of ants can be different - from black, red, yellow and brown to unusual green or bluish. Ants are difficult to classify, since twin species and numerous hybrids are common in nature. Only specialists will be able to distinguish them by their appearance.
How long do ants live?
It depends on a number of factors. Insect species and caste, habitat, season - these are the main reasons that affect how long ants live in natural conditions. Worker ants live an average of one to three years. Atsmaller species have shorter life spans than their larger relatives. Surprisingly, ants in cold regions live longer than their tropical cousins.
Male live for several weeks. During this period, they bring the population the only benefit: they take part in mating. Then they are destroyed by the colony or they fall prey to predators. The longest-lived individual in the ant kingdom is the uterus. In some species, its life expectancy reaches 20 years.
Stages of building an anthill
The construction of an ant house begins with the advent of the mature generation. Under favorable conditions, the queen (womb) lays ant eggs. In the future, workers take care of them. Sexually mature females and males leave their anthill to build a new colony and breed.
It is interesting to watch how ants build an anthill. First, they find and carefully examine a place for a new home. For them, it is important that there are no dead ants in the selected area, it is desirable that there be "driven" prey (large caterpillar, frog, beetle, a bunch of sugar, seeds and mushrooms). The place should be in the shade, have normal humidity and ventilation.
Ants build a common house from various blades of grass, leaves, earth, bark. The building material is carefully crushed and glued together with ant glue. The work is carried out very carefully and thoroughly, for centuries. Construction continues around the clock as the ant colony grows rapidly. Almost all their lives, these hard workers build their homes, increasing it anddepth, and height.
The appearance of the ant house
The anthill looks like a mountain of blades of grass, twigs, pieces of soil, but in reality it is a well-organized dwelling, inside which an interesting life is in full swing. From above, the anthill device is a cone-shaped mound with small openings-entrances. This form is not accidental - it allows the anthill to warm up well by the sun, not to get wet in the rain, to get the necessary access of oxygen.
Over the years, the anthill grows to several meters in height. Raindrops that fall on the outer layer do not penetrate inside. The open entrances, which are guarded by a large army of soldiers, are ventilation shafts through which air constantly enters the ant house. In the Tomsk region, scientists discovered a huge anthill 3 meters high and about 5 meters in diameter. Experts believe that this structure was built for about 20 years.
Internal Unit
From the inside, the anthill amazes with the thoughtfulness, well-coordinated work of the builders. Inside this structure is a set of passages - an anthill, has many exits, various chambers. The structure deepens underground, splits into two parts and accommodates a whole colony of hardworking inhabitants.
Most of the time insects spend in the upper tier, live here in the warm season. The chambers warm up perfectly, all the conditions for raising offspring are created here. The lower part going underland by one and a half to two meters, has similar structures. It is designed for wintering insects that wait out the cold season underground, store food supplies.
Each of this part is divided into chambers that perform certain functions:
- Queen's room. The uterus lives in it, and it lays eggs there. She is cared for by worker ants who lay eggs.
- Storage for eggs. Ants bring eggs here, monitor the provision of conditions for their development.
- Chamber for larvae. The hatched ants resemble worms in shape and are distinguished by insatiable voracity. They are placed several times in one cell and provided with food.
- Provided in the anthill device and a food storage room. Moreover, there are separate rooms for grains, seeds, parts of insects, aphids.
- Warehouse for storing garbage.
- Wintering room.
The chambers are connected by numerous passages, which are carefully guarded by soldier ants. With the onset of cold weather or the approach of danger, the openings of the ant house are closed.
Do ants have enemies and who destroys anthills in the forest? These insects have a lot of enemies. If in the city even pets - dogs or cats - can cause damage to an anthill, then in the forest bears are a great danger to them. The clumsy owner of the taiga rakes anthills with his clawed paw to feast on larvae and ants. Hedgehogs, like mice, will not refuse a light snack if in their wayan anthill will meet.
Many of us have known about the construction of an ant dwelling since school, and most of us know that they cannot be destroyed. Unfortunately, the reality is different.
Scientists-myrmecologists are engaged in serious studies of the life of these hardworking insects.
How does a colony appear?
To find out how the life of ants in an anthill proceeds, it is necessary to start with the birth of a new offspring. Once a year, male and female ants emerge from eggs, ready to procreate. Females have wings and fly apart to mate.
Males die after fertilization, and females go in search of a place to create a new colony. Having discovered it, the female gnaws off her wings to obtain the necessary nutrients and begins to actively lay eggs.
At first, she survives thanks to an impressive fat layer, but when the first representatives of the offspring are born, they provide the uterus with everything necessary. The ant queen mates only once, but she has enough sperm for a lifetime to reproduce.
Interesting life inside an anthill
Ants live in large colonies that persist for several years. All members of such a colony are relatives. From a social point of view, an anthill for ants can be considered a city, the population of which is divided into castes and well organized. Experts believe that a parallel civilization is developing under our feet.
If peopleinteract through speech, facial expressions and gestures, then ants communicate by exchanging food and using smells: each ant has a unique smell, and each colony has special shades of aromas. Thanks to them, insects can feel that a stranger has entered their house. In addition, ants interact using pheromones. So they inform their relatives about the danger or the place where the food is.
Division into castes
Most of the colony is made up of worker ants. Half of them provide coziness and comfortable living inside the building, the other takes care of food supplies, is engaged in outdoor construction of the house. The head of the hierarchy is the female, who is often called the uterus or queen. It is she who, having fertilized at a young age, gives offspring all her life and finds a place for an anthill.
After two weeks, ants appear, usually a working clan. They are the ones who take over the construction. A small part of the colony is made up of young males. Their fate is unenviable - after fertilization of the female, they die within two weeks.
Ant "professions"
There are many of them. Among them:
- Warriors-invaders. Their main task is to capture new territories and attack neighboring anthills to steal cocoons and larvae, which later become slaves working for the prosperity of someone else's anthill.
- Builders. They maintain the state and structure of the anthill, build new communications and tunnels. As the population of the colony increases, daily hundredsbuilder ants carry twigs and needles from above to the deeper layers of their house, and from the lower floors they lift them up. This maintains stable humidity. Thanks to this, the dome of the anthill does not grow moldy and does not rot.
- Nurses. Sick ants are isolated from society, if the patient's paw is damaged, the orderlies amputate it - they just bite it off.
- Getters. Their main task is to find and then carefully store food.
- Guards. These individuals reliably protect the entrances to the anthill from strangers and ensure the safety of the larvae and the queen.
- Shepherds (milkers). Ants have "pets". Aphids feed on vegetation and secrete a sweet liquid called honeydew. Ants tickle aphids and collect sweet nectar, which is a nutritious and tasty food for them and a source of carbohydrates.
- Transporters - transfer pad to the anthill.
- Maternity hospital workers. They transfer eggs to special compartments and are responsible for maintaining the desired temperature.
- Nectar keepers. These workers are needed in case of famine in the anthill, when the ants-producers will not be able to bring food. In this case, products are used that are always kept in abundance by thrifty keepers.
Depending on the number of insects living in the anthill, there is a division of labor. In a small family, the principle of interchangeability is practiced. Specializations appear in a large colony, and certain duties are assigned to ants.
Interesting facts aboutants
- Despite their diminutive size, ants can carry objects that weigh five thousand times more than insects.
- These are some of the smartest insects, with 250,000 brain cells.
- Some species of ants are poisonous, their bites are deadly to humans.
- These are the most ancient insects on our planet - scientists believe that the first individuals appeared on Earth more than a hundred million years ago.
- Ants move only in formation; these insects can show both aggression towards each other and touching care. After an individual is injured, relatives take care of him throughout the illness and even bring food.
- Ants can stay under water for several days, and this does not threaten them with negative consequences.
- In addition to the uterus, other females live in the anthill, but none of them can give birth.
