Army Ants
by Scott
What Do the Ants Do?
What marches like a robot but is really aggressive? It’s an army ant!
You may not know this but ants can be extremely dangerous. One species (kind of animal) in particular, is the army ant.
The reason they’re called army ants is because they march together like soldiers in columns of thousands! But the craziest part about it, is that they will change their marching patterns! So maybe when they first start marching they’re in straight columns, but when they get to their prey’s habitat (where they live), they might be in an X pattern.
Sometimes when the ants march, birds called ant birds will fly in front of the marchers, so they can protect them and feed on the insects that the ants catch.
When the ants go out the queen ant stays with the eggs, larva, and pupae in their nest, which is called a bivouac (bih-vo-ack). The queen and the young are always safe from predators because one third of the workers stay with them.
So now that you know these facts, when you go to the pet store, it’s best to stick with a dog…maybe not an army ant!
The 5 Star Buffet
“Hut 2, 3, 4, Hut 2, 3, 4, Hut…” Oh no! The army ants are coming! These little carnivores (meat eaters) will eat any insect, reptile, amphibian etc…in their path, including humans!
Have you ever watched “Indiana Jones 4: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”? Well, in one scene the people are walking on army ant mounds (top part of the nest, as well as the entrance and exit) and get eaten! Well, if you were wondering if that could actually happen, it can! If anything is opposed as a threat or gets in the ants’ way, and doesn’t have the same scent, it is eaten.
You see, army ants can’t see well, so they rely on their antennae (long things that poke out of their head) to sniff prey out. But some other insects will mimic (copy) their scent so they won’t get eaten. These include assassin bugs, beetles, wasps, and millipedes. Army ants also rely on movement to find prey. So some prey will stay completely still to not get eaten. So next time you see a column of army ants outside, just stand completely still and don’t move (if running won’t do you any good).
Army ants will eat humans, but only if they’re a threat. Their favorite kinds of food are other insects and snakes. Some tribes in parts of Africa use the army ants to control the rats, flies, wasps, and other pests in their house. How useful!
What’s in the Shadows?
Hey! Why’s that brown column coming towards me? Oh no, it’s the army ants! Run!!!
An army ant is about half the size of a small paper clip but still it can do a lot of damage, and when they’re in a group of thousands, let’s just say the result is killer.
The reason these little guys are so deadly is because they have scissor-like jaws that open and close so they can grab—and sometimes even rip—skin. Then they use their razor arms to chop the prey’s skin into little pieces. Sometimes they use their stinger’s venom (poisonous liquid) against intruders. One sting can paralyze (stun) a caterpillar, several hundred can kill a cow! Each ant can sting about 10-16 times in their lifetime.
Another item they have is their exoskeleton (armor), which is a good thing too because to us a grain of sand is nothing, but to an ant it’s like a boulder (big rock). Their exoskeleton is reddish brown and can also protect them from prey that fights back, predators, rain, mud…you name it! Their armor is protective, but also light, so they can move fast unlike turtles, whose heavy armor shells slow them down. Army ants can move about as fast as humans.
Uh oh the marching football field has found me. There are only two things to do…run, or stay still!
Speeding Up Life
Oh no the army ants are back and they’re madder than ever. But why is that one in the middle so fat? That’s the queen, and she’s pregnant, or ready to lay eggs.
Like us, ants grow, but only much faster. Their first stage is an egg, and the ant will be in there for about 5 days, then a larva (baby) for about 4-7 days, then they’re a pupa (teen) for about 3-6 days. After that they’re an adult for the rest of their life. Worker ants live for about 3-6 months. The queen can live for about 1 year and lays about five million (that’s 5,000,000!) eggs in her lifetime.
In an ant colony all of the workers are female, and so is the queen, but there are males called drones that mate with the queen and help make eggs. Drones, though, don’t fight or help look for food, or anything like that, because they only live for 2 days!
Every 35 days, a colony looks for a new place to live because their old one got worn down. Army ants are always on the move!
Well it looks like those army ants have found a new place to live, so I should really move away from this tree I’m holding onto…
Home, Sweet Bivouac
I’m underground, looking for a…oh! There it is. A nest of army ants lays right in front of me.
Like all ants, army ants live underground, and like all ants they’re really protective of their territory. There is one difference between army and regular ants, though. Army ants don’t make ant hills, they make nests with their bodies called bivouacs. If you look at the top of one (if you get close enough) it will look like a circus. The queen and her young (eggs, larva, and pupa) are safe under the mountain of other ants on top of them.
The reason why army ants live underground is because they like hot and moist (wet) areas, and underground is both. Army ants also live in Central America and South America.
The way they make a bivouac is they first find a hole under a fallen tree or a rock, then they put the queen and all of the young in, finally they start pouring themselves into the hole.
I should get back up to the surface, before I get eaten. Now uh…which way is up!?
by Scott
What Do the Ants Do?
What marches like a robot but is really aggressive? It’s an army ant!
You may not know this but ants can be extremely dangerous. One species (kind of animal) in particular, is the army ant.
The reason they’re called army ants is because they march together like soldiers in columns of thousands! But the craziest part about it, is that they will change their marching patterns! So maybe when they first start marching they’re in straight columns, but when they get to their prey’s habitat (where they live), they might be in an X pattern.
Sometimes when the ants march, birds called ant birds will fly in front of the marchers, so they can protect them and feed on the insects that the ants catch.
When the ants go out the queen ant stays with the eggs, larva, and pupae in their nest, which is called a bivouac (bih-vo-ack). The queen and the young are always safe from predators because one third of the workers stay with them.
So now that you know these facts, when you go to the pet store, it’s best to stick with a dog…maybe not an army ant!
The 5 Star Buffet
“Hut 2, 3, 4, Hut 2, 3, 4, Hut…” Oh no! The army ants are coming! These little carnivores (meat eaters) will eat any insect, reptile, amphibian etc…in their path, including humans!
Have you ever watched “Indiana Jones 4: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”? Well, in one scene the people are walking on army ant mounds (top part of the nest, as well as the entrance and exit) and get eaten! Well, if you were wondering if that could actually happen, it can! If anything is opposed as a threat or gets in the ants’ way, and doesn’t have the same scent, it is eaten.
You see, army ants can’t see well, so they rely on their antennae (long things that poke out of their head) to sniff prey out. But some other insects will mimic (copy) their scent so they won’t get eaten. These include assassin bugs, beetles, wasps, and millipedes. Army ants also rely on movement to find prey. So some prey will stay completely still to not get eaten. So next time you see a column of army ants outside, just stand completely still and don’t move (if running won’t do you any good).
Army ants will eat humans, but only if they’re a threat. Their favorite kinds of food are other insects and snakes. Some tribes in parts of Africa use the army ants to control the rats, flies, wasps, and other pests in their house. How useful!
What’s in the Shadows?
Hey! Why’s that brown column coming towards me? Oh no, it’s the army ants! Run!!!
An army ant is about half the size of a small paper clip but still it can do a lot of damage, and when they’re in a group of thousands, let’s just say the result is killer.
The reason these little guys are so deadly is because they have scissor-like jaws that open and close so they can grab—and sometimes even rip—skin. Then they use their razor arms to chop the prey’s skin into little pieces. Sometimes they use their stinger’s venom (poisonous liquid) against intruders. One sting can paralyze (stun) a caterpillar, several hundred can kill a cow! Each ant can sting about 10-16 times in their lifetime.
Another item they have is their exoskeleton (armor), which is a good thing too because to us a grain of sand is nothing, but to an ant it’s like a boulder (big rock). Their exoskeleton is reddish brown and can also protect them from prey that fights back, predators, rain, mud…you name it! Their armor is protective, but also light, so they can move fast unlike turtles, whose heavy armor shells slow them down. Army ants can move about as fast as humans.
Uh oh the marching football field has found me. There are only two things to do…run, or stay still!
Speeding Up Life
Oh no the army ants are back and they’re madder than ever. But why is that one in the middle so fat? That’s the queen, and she’s pregnant, or ready to lay eggs.
Like us, ants grow, but only much faster. Their first stage is an egg, and the ant will be in there for about 5 days, then a larva (baby) for about 4-7 days, then they’re a pupa (teen) for about 3-6 days. After that they’re an adult for the rest of their life. Worker ants live for about 3-6 months. The queen can live for about 1 year and lays about five million (that’s 5,000,000!) eggs in her lifetime.
In an ant colony all of the workers are female, and so is the queen, but there are males called drones that mate with the queen and help make eggs. Drones, though, don’t fight or help look for food, or anything like that, because they only live for 2 days!
Every 35 days, a colony looks for a new place to live because their old one got worn down. Army ants are always on the move!
Well it looks like those army ants have found a new place to live, so I should really move away from this tree I’m holding onto…
Home, Sweet Bivouac
I’m underground, looking for a…oh! There it is. A nest of army ants lays right in front of me.
Like all ants, army ants live underground, and like all ants they’re really protective of their territory. There is one difference between army and regular ants, though. Army ants don’t make ant hills, they make nests with their bodies called bivouacs. If you look at the top of one (if you get close enough) it will look like a circus. The queen and her young (eggs, larva, and pupa) are safe under the mountain of other ants on top of them.
The reason why army ants live underground is because they like hot and moist (wet) areas, and underground is both. Army ants also live in Central America and South America.
The way they make a bivouac is they first find a hole under a fallen tree or a rock, then they put the queen and all of the young in, finally they start pouring themselves into the hole.
I should get back up to the surface, before I get eaten. Now uh…which way is up!?