Seven Castles

Ants

                                      

November 4, 2007

 

Ant is any of over 10,000 species social insects of the family Formicidae, characteristically having wings only in the males and fertile females and living in colonies that have a complex social organization, as they are unable to live on their own.

 

It is believed that ants first appeared during the Cretaceous period and that they had evolved from the wasps that had come out during the Jurassic period. Scientists have also estimated that ants have been living on the earth for more than a 100 million years.

 

Ants are found worldwide but are especially common in hot climates. They range from 2–25 mm long and are usually yellow, brown, red, or black. They appear in shades of green, red, brown, yellow, blue or purple. They are mostly omnivorous, that is, they eat other insects, seeds, oils and bread. Some even "farm" fungi for food, cultivating them in their nests, or "milk" aphids. Adult ants are unable to swallow solid food. They depend on the juice they are able to squeeze out from pieces of food. Ant colonies consist of three castes (queens, males and workers, including soldiers) interacting in a highly complex society paralleling that of the honeybees. There is at least one queen in each ant colony. Queen ants are provided with wings at birth, but lose these wings after they fly off to start new colonies. Worker ants are given the responsibility of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it into the rubbish dump. When a worker ant finds a source of food, it leaves a trail of scent to attract other ants in the colony to it.

 

The average life span of an ant is 45-60 days. The ant has very strong legs that help it to run very quickly. An ant is able to lift about 20 times its own body weight. An ant has two stomachs, in one stomach it stores food for itself and in the other it stores food that is to be shared with other ants. Like most members of the order, ants have a "wasp waist", that is, the front part of the abdomen forms a narrow stalk (called the waist or pedicel) that attaches to the thorax. The wings, when present, are also typical of the order; the small hind pair of wings is attached to the rear edge of the front pair. An ant has the largest brain amongst insects. It is said that the processing power in an ant's brain and a Macintosh II computer might be similar. The head has two bent antennae, used both as organs of touch and as chemosensory organs. In most species there are two compound eyes. The jaws are of the biting type and in some species are used for defense. Some ants have stings, and some can spray poison from the end of the abdomen. Some ants are able to sleep seven hours a day.

 

In the English language, "ants in one's pants" is slang, meaning a state of restless impatience.

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2007年11月4日 星期日 07:56】【注册】【打印】