Ants are very small creatures but this does not mean that they can live anywhere in the world.
Though, they also have homes which are called nests, and colonies where they live in the form
of groups. These groups have also some subdivisions which usually depend upon the
specifications. So when people ask what is a group of ants called, they must know that group
of ants is called an ant colony in general. Although, an ant colony consists of many further
groups.
These further groups include a queen category who is responsible for laying eggs in the group,
along with some soldier ants who are responsible for the security and defense of the group.
Moreover, there are male ants who are just for the mating purpose with the queen while there
are princess ants who are females and are called the young community of the group. Lastly,
worker ants are enthusiastic, stay outside the ant colony and work with much effort.
Table of Contents
What Is A Group Of Ants Called
A group of ants is called a colony of ants, which lives in the nest and have many subgroups in that colony. Queen, male ants, soldier ants, princess ants, and worker ants are part of the colony. They all live in one place and carries out their respective task which has been discussed in much detail in this article. Hope you will learn a lot of new facts about the groups of ants, ant colonies, ant nests, and lines of ants in this respective article.
Does A Group Of Ants Call Nest?
Ants are very cooperative and strong creatures, even if they are too tiny and too small but they still believe in working together and never feel like doing a task alone. Though, numerous categories fall under the name of the group of ants. They have been divided into multiple groups and they name each group after the work meaning they are doing. Below is a detailed description of every group that belongs to the ants.
Army Of Ants
Army of ants is a phrase for the active and raiding ants which do not like to stay in their nests. Instead, they are always outside the nest for achieving their goal or completing missions. Over 200 species of ants hold this characteristic which makes them called an army of ants.
Army ants have the specific characteristic of being aggressive, habit of foraging, and have a very sharp instinct for predators. Moreover, they don’t work to build their nests, instead, their bodies which are called bivouacs are their nests. Thus, there are other names for ant armies as well, such as the legion and the marabunta.
Nest Of Ants
The group of ants is called colonies, which are numerous and have more subheadings as well which will be discussed in the article later. Though, the nest of ants refers to the place where actual ants live and stay peacefully. There are some characteristics that are seen in the place which is called a nest.
Nests are found above the ground and are made by colonies of ants who work harder to make nests. Queen ants let their eggs lay in these nests in the central chamber where the temperature is according to the requirements of the eggs.
Swarm Of Ants
Swarm ants are the ones who can fly and these are usually the princess and male ants because the swarm ants fly away only in search of mates to mate up with them. These two ants usually fly away during the seasons of July and again in search of their mates.
These are the youngsters of the ant colonies and they are mostly attacked by the predators. Though, while flying away from their colonies they also face natural hazards, some of them survive and others fail to manage and end up losing their lives. The interesting part is that this swarm of ants is responsible for making new colonies when they find out their mates and carry out the process of mating, they build the nest for their eggs and then make their colonies where the princess ants become the most precious of ant family characters of the Queen.
What Is A Line Of Ants Called?
Ants live in henotheists and formed colonies with their fellows to expand their homes, in these colonies the queens, males, princess ants, soldier ants, and worker ants. When there are this many crowded members in the family of ants then how do you think they all live or communicate?
Well, for this purpose ants work in the form of a line and when they move outside the nest they move in lines to show their support for each other and when they are in line they are at their best strength. They can communicate in lines very easily by creating vibrations with the help of their body parts and letting their fellow ants know about danger or food in their surroundings.
A Colony Of Ants
Ants operate as colonies and complete all their tasks in the form of colonies which includes many types of ants. Below is the overview of every category that lives within the ant colonies. Briefly, ant colonies contain queens, males, drones, soldiers, and workers in general. Though each has its specific role in the colony which has a special place.
Queen Ants
Queen holds the central position in any colony and is so important that many other ants stake their lives or even lose their lives to provide security and protection to the queen of the colony. Each colony can have either one queen also called monogyne or multiple queens also called polygyne. To provide security and protection to the queen at every cost does not mean that other ants love the queen of their colony a lot but this act is done for the sake of future generations. Hence, the queen is the only female available in the colony who is responsible for carrying out the future generation and will provide more eggs of ants to the colony. That is why the queen’s life is the most precious one, especially when she is the only queen in the colony.
As queen has the most important task to do which no one else in the colony can carry out, so this makes the queen such an important member of the colony and that is why she does not hold the capacity to do any other task than laying down the eggs in her wings. A queen can lay around 800 eggs in a day of 24 hours. In contrast, the lifespan of a queen is much higher, which is around 30 years at max and the Queen gives birth to millions of eggs during her entire life.
Male/Drone Ants
Male ants have a task that is quite unusual, their main purpose in life is to mate up with the queen and let her have the maximum eggs she can. Though, the abdomen and wings of male ants are very bigger than queens but are not of much use as their sole purpose is to mate up with the queen and very often male ants die after this. Yes, they mate up with the queen and die which causes trouble for the queen as she then needs to look out for another colony where she could find another male and for mating to extend that ant colony.
As discussed above, the main task or work of male ants is just to mate up with the queen. This makes male ants just stay inside the nest rather than going out and looking for work which could be helpful for their colony. That is why their lifespan is short because they are not of much use to the colonies except for mating up with the queen of the colony.
Worker Ants
Worker ants are one of the most passionate and hard-working ants available in the colony. They are all females. Yes, all females excluding the queen of the colony. They work for the colony, though, they don’t go much outside the colony but they work inside and make sure that the working of the colony is going so accurately and smoothly and always have a strict eye inside the colony. They secure the nest and make efforts for the expansion of the nest.
Worker ants just remain in the ant colonies but for some specified period, they do leave the nest in search of food, especially the food crumbs which they gather for the ants to have during rainy days and cold seasons. This clarifies that worker ants are only seen outside the nest before the arrival of the rainy season or winter.
Worker ants are females and these females have their specifications which include; small ovaries, smaller in size than other ants in the colony, workaholic, passionate, and also can lay eggs like a queen but they don’t do so because they are not allowed to mate. Hence, the exciting fact is they do give birth without giving birth to just females as male ants can only take birth if queen ants and males mate otherwise only female ants take birth.
Soldier Ants
Soldier ants are responsible for the safety of the colony and they are even more in number than the worker ants. They are very much braven furious, defensive, have high sight for danger, and are butchering as well. They are defensive and at the same time can attack other prey or enemies with their heads while helping them to kill the enemy or at times injure the enemy.
Soldier arms have strict checks at the entrance of the nest as they have made holes in the nest from where anyone coming inside the nest should touch their head to the soldier ants which gives them a signal that the ant coming to the nest is the fellow ant and does not have to to be attacked. Worker ants go through this security check every time they return from the work. Soldier ants are on duty for the entire day but take rest during night time, while being on duty they are very much active and defensive and do not let the enemy attack or enter their nest.
Princess Ants
Princess ants are more to be like male or drone ants, they take birth from the worker ants who are females but do not mate up with the male ants. That is why worker ants remain virgin and gives birth to these princess ants who have wings and the story behind their wings is much more interesting.
Princess ants become the future queen ants and can lay eggs beneath their wings, these ants are allowed to mate up with male ants and become queen of the colony which can serve the colony for a max of 30 years as a Queen.
FAQs
Who are queen ants?
The ones who are responsible for laying eggs in their wings.
What is a group of ants called?
A group of ants is called a colony of ants where many sub groups of ants live together.
Who are Soldier ants?
Soldier ants are responsible for the security of the ant colony, they are very much brave, furious, and defensive.
Who is Swarm of ants?
Swarm ants are the ones who have the feature of flying and in the season of July or august, they fly away from the ant colonies.
Who are worker ants?
Worker ants are also members of ant colonies, they are virgin females of the colony who work passionately for the colony and give birth to only female eggs because they do not mate with male ants.
Conclusion
Ants are seen everywhere and mostly seen in groups which is why it is often asked what is a group of ants called. Well, after reading the above article it can now be said that the group of ants is called ant colonies which consist of many sub-groups who all have their respective tasks to do in their very own capacity
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