How Are Ants Similar To Ants?

Ants are insects that have been living on Earth for more than 100 million years. They are literally

everywhere (except in Antarctica!). A common (worker ant) formicidae’s body is divided into 3 parts

– prosoma, mesosoma and metasoma. The head is in the prosoma section. The alitrunk and the

petiole make up the mesosoma, the middle section. The gaster, which is the abdominal part, is the

metasoma, or the posterior. Like other insects, ants have an exoskeleton (a hard, protective outer

casing) and spiracles (tiny pores/valves) in the exoskeleton for respiratory processes, instead of

lungs. They have a long, thin, perforated tube along the top of the body – the dorsal aorta - that

functions like a heart, and pumps haemolymph toward the head, for the circulation of

HOW ARE ANTS SIMILAR TO BEES?

Ants are actually quite similar to bees in many ways. Like the bees build their own hive, ants also

build their own ant hill. They are hard-working and laborious. They are tiny, but they can lift 10-50

times of their own weight! Ants collect dirt, dry mud, plant remains, twigs and leaves to build

intricate structures with compartments inside where they live. The mound we see on the ground is

the roof to the magnificent ant hill. Like bees, ants also have a social structure and specific functions.

The queen ant lays eggs and is responsible for reproduction with the male ants. She is bigger than

the drones and has wings. The other females, worker ants, go out in search of food and they feed

the other ants and build the ant hill. There are some idle ants that do nothing. They grow a pair of

wings right after birth, fly up in the air and die. Both ants and bees are extremely eusocial organisms.

INTERESTING ANT FACTS:

 A specific species of ants found in Central America and South America – M. smithii is

exclusively an all-female species. The queen ant reproduces asexually and all the new ants

are clones of the