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Ants
Scientific Name:
Family Name: Formicidae
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Identification: First abdominal segment (or 1st 2 abdominal segments) nodelike or with a dorsal hump, differing from remaining segments. Antennae 6- to 13-segmented, and strongly elbowed (at least in females), the 1st segment quite long. Social insects, with different castes; queens and males usually winged, the workers wingless. Venation of winged forms normal or slightly reduced. Comments: This is a large and widely distributed group occurring almost everywhere, often in considerable numbers. Ant colonies vary greatly in size, from a dozen or so up to many thousands of individuals. Most species nest in the ground but many nest in various natural cavities. Each colony usually consists of 1 or more queens (larger than other individuals and do all the egg laying), workers (larger colonies may contain 2 or more types of workers), and males; a few ants have no worker caste. Males and queens are produced at ceratin seasons, and mating usually occurs in a mating flight; males are generally much smaller than queens. After mating, the queen sheds its wings and either starts a new colony or enters an established colony. Ants vary in habits: some are carnivorous, some are scavengers, and some are plant feeders. Most ants will bite when disturbed and many will sting; a few can eject a foul-smelling secretion from the anus. Seven subfamilies occur in the United States, but about 3/4 of the species belong to 2 subflamilies -- the Myrmicinae (abdominal stalk 2-segmented) and Formicinae (abdominal stalk 1-segmented). Myrmicinae include fire ants, harvester ants, and others; females sting. Formicinae include carpenter ants, mound-building ants, field ants, and others; females do not sting. [Borror, Donald J. and White, Richard E., Peterson Field Guide Series: A Field Guide to the Insects of America North of Mexico, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1970]
Ants may be the most abundant of all land animals. North American ant species come in a wide range of sizes and colors (black, brown, red, yellowish, and combinations of these.) It is the behavior of ants, however, rather than their appearance, that has long fascinated people. All ants are social insects, and colonies of various species may consist of from dozens to thousands of ants. Most ant colonies consist of three castes: one or more large queens, which lay all the eggs; a few small males, which are produced periodically and mate with the queen(s); and many sterile female workers, which form the majority of the colony. New queens and males have wings, and mate in periodic flights. The "flying ants" that you might see in spring are mostly these winged males. They die soon after the queen has mated. After the mating flight, a new queen sheds her wings and either starts a new colony or enters an established colony. Most ants nest in the ground, though there are many tree-nesting species. Nests vary greatly in size and form. Most ants eat animals, including other insects, but many eat plants or scavenge on whatever is available. A few species are pests. Carpenter ants, the largest North American ants, dig galleries in wood and sometimes damage foundations and other wooden structures. They do not feed on the wood, as do termites. Fire ants of the Southeast kill and eat nesting birds, including young poultry, and cause much distress to other livestock. Many ants also destroy other pest insects, and are a great food source for birds and other animals. [Leahy, Christopher, Peterson First Guides Insects, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York, 1987]