The busy ants Ants are social insects which are related to wasps and bees. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and a slender waist. Large groups of ants form colonies. These colonies are highly organised and can occupy large territories and consist of millions of ants. Ants are just like a large army. In larger colonies, there are sterile wingless females, castes of workers, soldiers that form a well organised army of ants. Within the ant colonies, there are some fertile males called “drones” and one or more fertile females called queens. Since ants tend to operate as a unified body working together to support the colony, they are sometimes described as super-organisms. Ants have colonised almost every landmass on earth and the only places lacking ants are Antarctica and certain remote islands that are very cold. Ants have a history too. It’s believed that they evolved from wasp-like ancestors about 130 million years ago and spread out after the rise of flowering plants. Due to their social organisation and their ability to upgrade habitats, tap resources and defend themselves, ants have survived. One interesting thing about these busy ants is that they never get confused. They divide labour, communicate and have the ability to solve difficult problems among themselves. As a result of their hard work and organisation, today, there are about 14,000 estimated ant species. Imagine! Ends
