Facts About Ants Behavior and Brain Gene Expression of Defending Host

Ants are ubiquitous in our daily life. Measured by the number of individuals, the biomass, and the distribution, ants are a great biological success. 

This ancient family already existed in the times of the dinosaurs, even in gigantic specimens with a wingspan of 15 cm. 

Facts About Ants Behavior and Brain Gene Expression of Defending Host

• Biological Characteristics 

During this long development period, diverse and unique biological characteristics could develop, not only about the various ant species but also the coevolutive adaptation of plants and unrelated animals to coexistence with ants, be it in symbiosis, as guests or parasites, as mimicry, or as specialized ant-eaters. 

There is hardly a biological phenomenon that cannot be treated using the example of ants in class. The meaning for humans is manifold. 

The name ant comes from Emse / busy, so the activity of these animals were observed from an early age. 

What do ants eat and drink? Some species of ants are eaten such as the honey pots in Mexico, leaf-wrapped lemon ants in South America, or roasted ants in Africa. 

Hildegard von Bingen recommended ant broth as a remedy for weak nerves, toothache, scabies, and pimples. 

• Infections

South American Indians use ants for intestinal infections. The ant venom's anti-rheumatism effects are controversial, but the aborigines of Australia successfully used the large bulldog ants to staple wounds by letting the animals bite the edges of the wound and then severing their heads. 

• Nature Protection

Beekeepers appreciate ants as promoters of honeydew production, from which the bees produce the valuable forest honey. The forest ants, which are particularly useful for humans as pests, were already placed under nature protection 200 years ago. If you like to read in Hindi about Ants then read more about ant in hindi.  

Nevertheless, for many people, the relationship with ants is rather negative. Do ants get diseases? About a quarter of the pupils would classify them as “vermin”. They are known as annoying roommates in the house and garden and even feared as carriers of disease like the pharaoh ant that was introduced.

How many ant species are there? Entomology is the study of insects has so far described more than a million insect species. The ants also belong to this large class of insects. 

How many ants are there in the world? There are more than 12,000 known and described species of ants in the world, around 110 of them in Germany. 

• Ant and Earth

The biomass of all ants roughly corresponds to the biomass of all people on earth. Ants have been colonizing the earth for around 100 million years and have developed into socially living insects. Although ants only make up around 2% of all insect species, they make up over 50% of the insect biomass. 

The family of ants (Formicidae) belongs to the hymenoptera the most species-rich order of insects. In terms of its importance for humans, it is the most important group with bees, wasps, bumblebees, and hornets. 

The animals of this order typically have 4 membranous wings, one pair each on the middle and rear breasts.

In the majority of Hymenoptera, there is a deep constriction between the 1st and 2nd abdominal segment, the so-called "wasp waist". 

This made the 1st abdominal segment functionally part of the breast. Different types of ants? The mouthparts belong to the basic type of biting and chewing like a sawfly. The licking-sucking proboscis in bees and bumblebees were created by lengthening the lower lip. Ants sense of smell? The feelers are equipped with a highly developed sense of smell and touch.

Most ants are only small in size. In our native species, it is max. just under 2 cm (Queen of the Ross Ant (Camponotus ligniperda)). But some species are much larger, such as the queens of the driver ant (Dorylus), which can reach 8 cm. 

• Colors

The body colors typical for ants are black, red, brown, or yellow. As with all insects, their body can be divided into three visible sections: head, chest, and abdomen. 

One or two stem-like limbs between the thorax and abdomen (petiolus and postpetiolus), tied off from the rest of the abdomen, allow a high degree of mobility of the abdomen and are a typical feature of ants. 

• Limbs

The individual rings (segments) of the abdomen are pressed apart when the crop is full, making the abdomen appear significantly larger in fed animals. The six typical striding legs on the chest consist, as with other insects, of 5 limbs. 

The last limb of the foot has a pair of claws at the end, which is well suited for climbing on rough ground. There are adhesive balls between them for holding onto very smooth surfaces. The cleaning comb on the front legs is used to clean the sensors. 

Only the sex animals have wings, workers are wingless. In the case of the mouthparts, the strong mandibles are particularly noticeable. They are usually designed in the shape of a shovel and more or less toothed. 

• Transporting 

The ants use them as universal tools for breaking up and transporting solid materials and for fighting other insects or smaller predators. The rest of the mouthparts complex can also be used to ingest liquid food, such as the honeydew collected by many species.

Above the upper lip, there are two kneeling antennae with a long base link (shaft) that gives them great mobility. This allows the tips to be guided up to the mouth opening. 

How do ants sense food? The feelers carry sensory organs for the smell, tactile, and taste perception and for measuring airflow and temperature. They are primarily for the functional unit "tactile smell", densely populated with sensory cells for smelling and touching (on 2 mm 2 - 3000 sensory cells). 

• Sense 

The sense of smell is as well developed as in dogs, the sense of taste exceeds that of humans many times over. According to their way of life on the ground and in dark nests, most species of ants only have small compound eyes, larger ones occur especially in the males. 

The eyes of the male forest ants consist of 1200 individual eyes (ommatidia), those of the queens from 800, and those of the workers from 600. On top of the head, there are often three forehead eyes, which are usually reduced or not present in wingless animals. 

As with other Hymenoptera, the visible spectrum is also shifted in ants: They are red-blind but can perceive UV light and polarized light. Special hearing organs are missing, although many ants have stridulation organs on the abdomen. 

But you can perceive substrate noise. The equilibrium position is z. B. determined in the small redwood ant by bristle fields in the joints of the antennae, the neck, and the legs, which are irritated to different degrees depending on the position of the joints. 

In the internal organs, in addition to the organs typical of insects, the goiter or social stomach, in which food and water are transported, is striking. Also, ants have numerous glands for the production of poisons, fragrances, and secretions with fungicidal and bactericidal effects. The breathing openings can be actively closed.