Facts on Ants (and some tips)
As we all know, the ant is a thing of beauty, like a work of fine art.
But what ARE ants?
Ants are insects in the order Hymenoptera, which also contains sawflies, bees and wasps. Wasps evolved from a sawfly ancestor, and ants and bees evolved from a wasp ancestor. Ants, bees and wasps are sectioned off further in their own suborder, called Apocrita, defined by their shared trait, the narrow waist. And then specifically stinging wasps, along with ants and bees are in the infraorder Aculeata, because they all developed the ability to sting with a modified ovipositor, their egg laying organ. Many species secondarily lost the ability to sting, but they had it once and thats all that matters, they could do it again if they FELT like it, okay?!?
Wait this is getting confusing somebody call mom to pick me up im scared
And finally, ants make up the family Formicidae, with 21 subfamilies, more than 300 genera, and more than 12,000 species!
THATS A LOT OF ANTS
Wait this is getting confusing somebody call mom to pick me up im scared
And finally, ants make up the family Formicidae, with 21 subfamilies, more than 300 genera, and more than 12,000 species!
THATS A LOT OF ANTS
Ants (and all of Hymenoptera) are holometabolous, meaning they undergo a complete and distinct metamorphosis from egg to larva to pupa to (winged) adult (only queens and males have wings in ants!). Many other insects are holometabolous, such as beetles, butterflies, and proper flies (Diptera).
True bugs (Hemiptera), grasshoppers and the like (Orthoptera), mantids, roaches and termites, and several other guys are hemimetabolous, meaning they have a gradual metamorphosis where they are just smaller versions of the adult (without wings) (and are so cutes) and go through multiple molts as they grow until they reach the adult stage (imago) with wings (if they have them).
True bugs (Hemiptera), grasshoppers and the like (Orthoptera), mantids, roaches and termites, and several other guys are hemimetabolous, meaning they have a gradual metamorphosis where they are just smaller versions of the adult (without wings) (and are so cutes) and go through multiple molts as they grow until they reach the adult stage (imago) with wings (if they have them).