Approximately 12,500 species of ant have been classified to date, and it is estimated that there are over 20,000 species of Ant in the world. They exist on every continent except for Antarctica. These insects are members of the Formicidae family, and they belong to the order Hymenoptera. They are closely related to wasps, and are believed to have evolved during the late Cretaceous, between 110 and 130 million years ago (Ward, 2007).
Ants form highly organized subterranean colonies with very intricate and complex social orders. The colonies themselves contain chambers that are built for very specific purposes, such as food storage, pupae production and waste disposal. They exhibit polymorphism by dividing labor into different “castes” of workers, soldiers, breeders, etc., all with different physical traits. This strategy allows millions of individual ants to live symbiotically and support each other within the greater collective super-organism of the colony. They communicate with one another using pheromone signals in order to locate food, build tunnels and warn of danger. (Moffet et al, 1991). The social structure of ant colonies has many interesting parallels to human social structure.
Ants form highly organized subterranean colonies with very intricate and complex social orders. The colonies themselves contain chambers that are built for very specific purposes, such as food storage, pupae production and waste disposal. They exhibit polymorphism by dividing labor into different “castes” of workers, soldiers, breeders, etc., all with different physical traits. This strategy allows millions of individual ants to live symbiotically and support each other within the greater collective super-organism of the colony. They communicate with one another using pheromone signals in order to locate food, build tunnels and warn of danger. (Moffet et al, 1991). The social structure of ant colonies has many interesting parallels to human social structure.
The ant body is characterized by a four-part exoskeleton that is strongly constricted at the second abdominal segment. They also differ from other insects by having jointed antennae and metapleural glands. They have compound eyes and strong mandibles for carrying food or offspring. Reproductive ants will have wings, but worker ants do not (Jones et al, 2008).