Ants are insects that live all over the world and are one of the groups of insects that live in organized colonies. Scientists estimate that ants have been living on earth for more than 100 million years. Most ants are omnivores, eating fruits, seeds, other insects, and honeydew. Ants have an average lifespan of 45 to 60 days, but some worker and queen ants live longer. Ants are normally 2-7mm long with 6 legs and each leg has 3 joints. Ants can lift up to 20 times their own body weight.
The ant brain has about 250,000 brain cells, which is the largest among all insects. Compared to humans with 10 billion brain cells, a colony of 40,000 ants is the same as a human. The combined weight of all the ants in the world is approximately equal to or greater than the combined weight of all human beings.
Ant colonies are made up of males, females, and workers. Each colony has several million ants. When these colonies become too large, the winged males and females fly to a new location and start a colony. Male and female ants mate in flight. The queen ant after laying eggs and starting the colony sheds its wings. The life expectancy of a male ant is less than that of a female ant. A queen ant mates once and uses this sperm over years to produce thousands of offspring.
Ant colonies have elaborate social structures in which various activities are divided among different ants. Depending on the type of work they do, they appear in different shades of green, blue, purple, and yellow. A yellow ant focuses on cleaning while the orange ant deals with the young ants and the new eggs produced by the queen ant. The ants keep their nest very clean and have special chambers for garbage and dead ants. The queen ant lives for many years and produces a chemical that workers lick off her body to let them know the queen is healthy.
