Did you know... there are 4500 species...
By ahgong
@ahgong (10064)
Singapore
November 28, 2008 2:31am CST
There are 4,500 ant species! 
Ants eat almost anything, but prefer sweet food.
When ants find food, they lay down a chemical trail called a pheromone so that other ants can find their way from the nest to the food source.
The Dalmatie ant cooks its food by chewing it into patties and baking them in the sun.
Ants can carry load that is five to 20 times their body weight and will work together in small or large groups to move heavier things. When they come across potholes, they smooth out the track by filling the holes with their bodies, accelerating the delivery of deliveries back to the nest.
The biggest ant colony was found on the Ishikari Coast of Hokkaido;
306 million ants and one million queens lived in 45,000 interconnected nests
over an area of 2.7 square kilometers (1,7 square miles).
Most of the 4,500 ant species are ferocious except for the Messor Aciculatus ant, which rarely fights. The Formica yessensis ant attacks other insects but does not fight with ants of the same species even if they come from a different ant nest.
In a book based on two decades of revolutionary research, a Stanford professor maintains that the ant queen is not in charge because there is no leader in an ant colony. A worker ant lives up to five years while the queen lives up to 25 years.2 people like this
6 responses
@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
28 Nov 08
Yup, there are just too many spieces of ants around, and we only need to know the basic few, such as army ants and fire ants, because they are the fiercest of all, and their bite is really painful.. lol =D Luckily, army ants only appear in european countries, and when they attack, they attack in a whole group.. Thus, it's advisable to leave them alone.. hehe
As for the spieces of ant u mentioned, i have not heard about that b4 and that's new to me.. hehe ^_^ But i do noticed, ants seldom fight each other. But do ants from different nest fight each other?? hehe =D Of course, the queen ant can live longer, because the worker ants are often killed by us, humans.. lol
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
1 Dec 08
Well, you cannot blame us for wanting to kill them.
They get all over the place if you let them run wild.
And they are really irritating to be having around.
Small as those little critters may be, some of them have really mean bites!
Never got one up your testis right?
You'd be doing a dance when they really bite you. AND if you are on a crowded bus or train, good luck to you!
1 person likes this
lucky you indeed! 
@kekexinfeng (1295)
• China
28 Nov 08
Oh
I haven't heard this,is it true?I think ant is evry great,often we don't pay any attention to ants,because it is so small,and it don't do any worry to us.
I haven't heard this,is it true?I think ant is evry great,often we don't pay any attention to ants,because it is so small,and it don't do any worry to us.@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
28 Nov 08
Well, I hate them ants.
The only time I like to look at them is when they are on TV. In documentaries like Discovery showcasing how they work as one body.
Other than that, they better be leaving me alone.
The less I see of them, the better!
To think there are 4500 of them species, I almost fainted!
@kekexinfeng (1295)
• China
28 Nov 08
yes,I don't like them all,because it is not usefull to us but very annoying if we eat something.
1 person likes this
@34momma (13882)
• United States
2 Dec 08
wow that is a lot!! i knew that there were a lot but i had no idea it was that many!! and i didn't know they lived so long. that is a very long time for one little bug to be around! 25 years for the Queen, that is just amazing. thanks for the interesting info
1 person likes this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
29 Nov 08
Well at least the queen has some perks LOL
I also thought that ants preferred sweet food. At least back home if one left the sugar open they would certainly appear. However since I came to Canada I was surprised that they don't seem to go to the sugar but to butter and fat stuff. I've been puzzled by that ever since LOL
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
1 Dec 08
Really? The ants in canada go for butter and fat stuff?
That is something new to me.
Here where I am, it doesn't really matter if it is sweet or not. The ants will go for it regardless.
Even prawn shells, and eggs and other smelly stuff. They go for it and make one heck of a mess when you clean up a little too slow.
Really hate them!
So, what do you do to get rid of ants that invade your home?
@princejayevents (1245)
• Philippines
28 Nov 08
That's a great info. I never thought of that... imagine 4500 species? wow! that's a whole lot of things to see. You can even create a ANT MUSEUM or GALLERY if you can find all these variety of ant species
Thanks for the info.
Keep on mylotting!
@luludavie (70)
• China
28 Nov 08
i remember when i was a child, i always cought ants to play, then search for their hole, sometimes used hot water to kill them(a little cruel,HEHE).i like seeing the ant to carry sth, im very suprised to that they can move a big insect into their small hole...
thanks for your knowledge about ants.
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
1 Dec 08
Well, in the open, it is easy to trace the ants and find the nest.
When they are in the home, it is near impossible to find the nest.
Darn ants are very good at finding hard to reach places to set up home.
If only there is an easier way to get these ants to leave my home alone.
