ant fact archive

Groups of ants have a shared personality.⁶⁰ An entire colony can be fearful of new environments, prudent and risk-averse. These shy colonies also tend to be less competitive.^{61, 62}

Florida Wood Ants⁵⁷ are cunning warriors, their nests littered with the severed skulls of much larger and more aggressive Trap-jaw Ants.⁵⁸ They stun and dismember their prey, using their scent as a cloak—a chemical disguise for the next attack.⁵⁹

Leaf-cutting Ants⁵⁴ construct ventilation shafts for their nests. The edible mold they cultivate underground thrives in muggy conditions,⁵⁵ but the ants need a breath of fresh air every once in a while.⁵⁶

Ghost Ants⁵² have a slit-shaped, hairless anal opening.⁵³

The fossil record shows that ants evolved around 150 million years ago. Now trapped in amber, they once shared the forest floor with dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus.⁵¹

Dracula Ants⁴⁹ are predators but are born completely blind. Their foreheads are smooth and lack any eye structures​.⁵⁰

Ant sisters are more closely related than human sisters, sharing 75% of their genes on average.^47,48

Caterpillars often grow up surrounded by ants. They employ chemical and acoustic signals to manipulate their entourage into liking and protecting them.⁴⁴ A sweet secretion is used to reward the ants for their services.^45,46

Wood Ants⁴¹ are among the only animals to create drug cocktails. By combining the formic acid produced by their own bodies with tree resin, they create a powerful antimicrobial agent to safeguard the colony from disease.^42,43

Male ants are often outlived by their sperm, dying just days after mating.³⁸ The queen stores their ejaculate in a pouch-like organ and uses it to fertilize eggs for a decade or more.^39,40

The oldest ant on record is a Black Garden Ant queen³⁵ who died after 28 years and nine months in captivity.³⁶ Her daughters had a typical lifespan of just one to two years.³⁷

Fungus-growing Ants³³ cooperate with other colonies by exchanging the edible molds grown in their underground gardens. Resilient strains get passed around, even across species lines, helping these farmers adapt to environmental changes.³⁴

Colonies of Fire Ants³⁰ survive floods by linking their bodies together to form living rafts, similar to the weaving of a waterproof fabric. This traps air bubbles underneath.³¹ The ants can sail for months at a time as they migrate to a new home.³²

As ants age, they venture further into the world.²⁷ They start as nurses, caring for the queen and her brood, then progress to nest maintenance. Only in the final stages of their lives do they take on the dangerous task of leaving the nest to forage.^28,29

Just over one millimeter in size, a Ghost Ant²⁵ is easily overlooked. Her pale legs and abdomen often blend into the background, making the head and thorax look like hovering specks, unrecognizable as an ant.²⁶

When Fire Ants²¹ encounter essential balm, they collect nearby soil particles and pave over the sticky substance.^22,23 They employ the same strategy to forage in areas treated with insecticides.²⁴

When an ant leaves home, she carries the distinct colony smell on her body for a long time.¹⁹ If this scent gets masked or washed off, however, her nest mates will attack her aggressively, no longer recognizing their sister.²⁰

Many ant species forage for seeds, which in turn affects the abundance and spread of plants.¹⁷ When a forest is cleared, ant communities get displaced, disrupting the ecosystem and changing the makeup of the undergrowth for decades.¹⁸

Dracula Ants¹⁴ practice non-destructive cannibalism. Using sharp, elongated jaws, they puncture the skin of their own larvae and feed on their blood without killing them.^15,16

Carpenter Ants¹¹ die ten times quicker when isolated from their peers. They wander around and continue to gather food, likely to share it with their nest mates later, but do not digest it themselves.¹² They starve to death with a full belly.¹³

In Malaysia, some ants⁸ live in the hollow internodes of giant bamboo stems. When their nest gets flooded by rain, they respond by drinking the water and excreting it on the outside of the plant.⁹ This strategy is known as communal peeing.¹⁰

Desert Ants⁴ can navigate precisely using the sun.⁵ When it is obscured, they use the pattern of polarized light across the blue sky as a compass.⁶ They have an extra set of eyes for this.⁷

Fire Ants¹ take around 250 naps per day, each lasting just over one minute. Some choose to sleep upside down on the ceiling. During deep sleep phases, they exhibit rapid antennal movement.^2,3