Search results
News about ants, kitchen staple, home
News about Anthill, Ant McPartlin, scientists
Also in the news
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified.
May 10, 2024 · Learn about ant, any of approximately 10,000 species of social insects that live in organized colonies. Find out how ants are classified, what they look like, where they live, what they eat, and how they interact with their environment.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- What Are Ants?
- Appearance
- Diet and Behavior
- Unusual Ants
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Ants are common insects, but they have some unique capabilities—including their legendary communication skills that allow their colonies to function as superorganisms. There are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth—that’s 2.5 million ants for every human. Known ant species (members of the family Formicidae) number over 12,000, and some experts estimate upw...
Ants range in size from the miniscule up to one inch long, and usually appear black, brown, red, or yellow. Ants look much like termites, and the two are often confused. Ants can be identified by their elbowed antennae, and narrow "waist" between the abdomen and thorax. Some ants have wings, which are longer in the front and shorter by their hind l...
Enthusiastically social insects, ants typically live in structured nest communities that may be located underground, in ground-level mounds, or in trees. Carpenter ants, which include more than a thousand species in the genus Camponotus, nest in wood and can be destructive to buildings. (Much like termites, which cause far more severedamage.) Some ...
Within the many thousands of known ant species, there are many that fill unique ecological roles, resulting in the development of special physical characteristics and interesting behavior. For example, ants have a variety of biological defenses. Fire ants bite and sting with a venom called solenopsin. They can also survive floods by clumping togeth...
Learn about the diversity, behavior, and ecology of ants, the most abundant insects on Earth. Find out how ants communicate, cooperate, defend, and adapt to different environments and threats.
- 1 min
Mar 9, 2022 · Ant identification is by their color, size, and body shape. Ants have three pairs of legs and three identifiable body parts — the head, thorax, and abdomen. Some ants have large, bulbous heads and abdomens with a thin thorax. The common names of some ants describe their appearance and habits.
Learn about ants, their diversity, behavior, and ecology from Britannica's article summary. Find out how ants are social insects that live in colonies with different castes and feed on various substances.
Ants are typically social, tiny insects of the family Formicidae, distinguished by their antennae and node-like slender waists. They live in organized colonies, which depending on the species, can comprise millions of ants.
Ants are an important prey species for many different reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, birds, and mammals. Longevity can’t be generalized to all ants, but queens usually live for several years and workers for only a few weeks or months. Conservation. Ant populations are stable.
