Fun Facts About Ants

Ants are a nuisance to have in the home, and depending on the species, they can be quite dangerous. But ants have also fascinated us from the moment we laid eyes on them. Their ability to coordinate, their tirelessness and their nests can all be fascinating. That’s not all though – there are numerous ant facts that can be really amazing:

• There are over 12,000 species of ants around the world, with some having completely unique traits, such as the honey ants of the Myrmecocystus mexicanus species. The honey ants serve as living reservoirs for the colony, storing honey in their abdomens for the dry season, when food is scarce.
• Ants are able to lift 20 times their own body weight. Granted, that is not a lot, considering the weight of an ant, but if an ant were the size of a human, it could lift a car.
• Queen ants can live for many years, and during their lifespan, they will give birth to millions of ants. One queen is solely responsible for birthing an entire colony, since it will be the only one capable of reproducing.
• Ants do not have a sense of hearing as we understand it. Instead, they will detect sound through vibrations in the ground or the walls around them.
• Ants may seem like peaceful builders, but they often engage in colony-on-colony wars, and these wars are to the death. They will also go on raids against termites, and the ants will usually win. In fact, ants are considered predators to termites.
• Ants will leave pheromone trails when they are out foraging, and these trails let other workers know where the food is located.
• Young queens will start out with wings, and they will fly out from their colonies looking for new areas to set up a nest. Once they find a suitable location, they will shed their wings and begin a new colony.
• Ants do not have any lungs. Instead, they take in oxygen through small holes on their body, and once the oxygen turns into carbon dioxide, it gets out the same way.
• When a queen dies, its colony will only be able to survive for a few more months. She is the only member that can reproduce, and she is very rarely replaced.

So there is more to ants than meets the eye, but that does not mean we want them in or around our home? Of course not. Contact us today if you have problems with ants and you would like to have them removed from your property.