While you may not find the topic of ants very interesting, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of this insect. Ants can sting and they can also damage your home if they decide to nest there. They might seem to be nothing more than pests, but ants actually have an important role to perform for the environment. Here is some basic information about ants.

Studies have been conducted which reveal that when ants move soil around as they build their nests and tunnels they actually help nourish that soil. This, in turn, helps animals that are higher up on the food chain than they are. They are extremely organized and colonize themselves at just about every spot on the Earth except for Antarctica. There are nearly 13000 classified species of this insect. They are acute problem solvers and queen ants in various colonies can live to be 30 years old. Ants live in colonies that are made up of thousands and in some cases millions of individual ants. The bigger colonies are made up of female workers and drones. Drones are fertile male ants. As for queens, colonies often just have one but there are some that have several. Each type of ant has an ability to communicate and each ant has its own job to do for the colony as a whole.

The body of an ant is made up of three distinct segments that include the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. An ant has two bent antennae at the front of their heads which they use to touch and smell things around them. The thorax is the middle part of the body and the abdomen contains their hearts and their reproductive organs. They do their breathing through their exoskeletons. Their legs are attached to their thorax regions. They can see using eyes that pick up light and shadows. Some ants have wings. They are the reproductive ants and include the queens who shed their wings after their nuptial flights. There are some species of ants whose queens do not have wings.

Nuptial flights are the occasions where the queen mates with a male ant. Sometimes this is done to start an entirely new colony. Most all colonies have castes or classes of worker ants. Worker ants may have stingers which help defend them and their colonies. Sometimes the worker ants have larger heads than the others do which lead them to be referred to as soldiers. They can handle their duties for the colony and they can ward off threats and attacks because they are stronger and bigger than other ants in the colony.

Ants begin life as eggs. If the egg is fertilized it becomes a female and if not it will develop into a male. These eggs morph into larva and pupae before becoming adult ants. Larva is managed by the worker ants who feed and care for them. Worker ants start off life as servants to the queen ant and other young ants. Ants are fascinating creatures, but unfortunately, they are not exactly welcome in homes and apartment buildings. They enjoy taking up residences with humans mostly because they enjoy eating lots of the same foods as humans do. They are fond of sweets and meat. This is one reason they will infest homes in kitchen areas. If you like the idea of what ants do out in the wild, but want to keep them out of your home always keep food preparation areas clean. Be sure to fix leaks in kitchens, bathrooms or on outdoor gutters promptly. Ants thrive on moisture.