In For One, One For All!

Okay it’s not that "Christmassy" but the hard working ant seems to me to be the perfect

offering for this month’s article. After all, ants look out for each other, are hard working and always strive to achieve huge goals way beyond their size- I think that alone has plenty of wholesome New Year’s spirit for all of us to channel into the New Year.

I agree, ants aren’t the prettiest but for their size, they are seriously amazing! Did you know, there over 12,000 species of ants well wide! Ants are the longest living insect- in fact one species of ant can live for up to 30 years! That’s pretty incredible for such a tiny body! Of course ants are probably best known for what they can carry, often 20 times bigger than their own body! A single ant can carry 50 times its own body weight, and they’ll even work together to move bigger objects as a group! Ants also hold the record

for the fastest movement in the animal kingdom. The aptly named species of trap jaw ant, can close its jaws at 140mph, which it uses to kill its prey or injure predators. Image if that bit you on the bum!

Ants are social creatures- they work as a team to get jobs done-The colony, also called a formicary, is made up of one or more egg-laying queens and a large amount of female “worker” ants that tend to her, build and maintain the nest, forage for food and care for the young. Male ants have wings and their only function is to mate with the queen. Ants communicate with each other using pheromones, sounds, and touch. A single ant can release an alarm pheromone that sends nearby ants into an attack frenzy and attracts more ants from farther away. Several ant species even use propaganda pheromones to

confuse enemy ants and make them fight among themselves. Ants travel distances of up to 200 meters from their nest and scent trails allow them to find their way back even in the dark.

Ants perform many ecological roles that are beneficial to humans, including the suppression of pest populations and aeration of the soil. On the other hand, ants may become nuisances when they invade buildings, or cause economic losses. Observed by humans since the dawn of history, the behaviour of ants has been documented and the subject of early writings and fables passed from one century to another. 

Ants have often been used in fables and children stories to represent industriousness and cooperative effort. They also are mentioned in religious texts.  In the Book of Proverbs in the Bible, ants are held up as a good example of hard work and cooperation. And now for a few last fun facts that might make you go wow- Ants don’t have ears and some of them, don’t even have eyes! Ants “listen” by feeling vibrations from the ground through their feet, and eye-less ants such as the driver ant species can communicate by using their antennae! The largest ants nest ever found was over 3,700 miles wide!

Found in Argentina in 2000, the ginormous colony housed 33 ant populations which had merged into one giant super colony, with millions of nests and billions of workers! So there you have it- the tiny by mighty ant! In for one, one for all!