Ant Facts & Information

ANTS

Ants are prominent insects in all parts of the world. There are several species of ants with different shapes, forms and sizes. Generally, any ant -whichever the species will either be a queen, worker or male. Both the workers and the queen are the female species, each with their unique duty. Adults male ants are the winged species that usually mate with the queen during the swarming process. Just as the queen are the fertile female species that are capable of laying all the eggs in a colony, the workers are also the unfertile wingless females that usually defend the colony from intruders, maintain the nest, source for food and feed the larvae. All ants irrespective of the shapes and sizes belong to the family Formicidae.

APPEARANCE

Wondering what an ant looks like? The various species of ants share the same features which include three pairs of legs used for movement, compound eyes and sensory antennae. Ants are social insects that usually live in colonies and can house up to hundreds of thousands in a single colony, so you’ll probably see more than one at a time. Similar to other insects, their body is divided into three compartments; the head, thorax and the abdomen..

TYPES OF ANT

It’s no brainer that the species of ants exist in different forms and shapes, thus some are listed as follows with their Latin name:

Big headed Ant

(Pheidole spp )

Fire Ant

(Solenopsis invicta)

Pharaoh Ant

(Monomorium pharaonis)

HABITAT

Ants are rarely found in freezing habitats but exist in every other type of landform, especially mounded structures, undergrounds and dead trees. Their colony is usually with an average of 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants. Inside the home, ants can majorly be found in the kitchen and bathrooms, because these areas best provide access to food as well as moisture. Just like any other pest, ant infestation is mainly due to poor hygiene and sanitation.

LIFE CYCLE AND REPRODUCTION

Ants undergo a complete metamorphosis which has four distinct and different stages; egg, larvae, pupae and adult. The completion of their life cycles vary from several weeks to months depending on the environmental factors and the ant species involved.

Fertile queens begin to lay eggs to begin a nest after successfully mating with a male ant. The eggs are transparent, white, oval and about half a millimeter in diameter. The legless larvae develop after about one to two weeks. Adult ants feed the larvae with the digested food because they have a voracious appetite. The pupae which are usually white but later become dark with age resemble the adult except with the differences in their legs and antennae. This stage ensues after shedding and molting the larvae skin and can be housed in a protective cocoon, from which the adult ant emerges and becomes darker as it ages. A colony is able to live a long lifetime as the queen can live about fifteen years and the workers may live about seven years.

CONTROL OF ANTS

Controlling ants can be somehow difficult as ants can penetrate through even the tiniest cracks when searching for food. Sweet substances, moisture and water in storeroom areas or kitchen pantry can make an ant nest around anywhere in the house. Keeping your home free of crumbs, leftovers, spills is a great move at keeping ants at bay. The most effective means of controlling ants is by imploring the use of treatments that can penetrate and destroy their nests as this will eventually lead to their extinction.