Watch Our Animals online: Episode 13 Ants

There are thousands of different sorts of ants. Ants are insects. On their heads ants have long waving antennae. These antennae are good at smelling, tasting and hearing. Ants leave a smell trail wherever they go so they can find their way home when they go looking for food. They do this by leaving drops of a special liquid. They live in groups called colonies. Every ant in a colony has a job. There are three main groups in an ant colony: The Queen She's bigger than all the other ants and she's in charge of the colony. She has wings but loses them after mating. She's the only one who makes babies by laying thousands of eggs. Males Males have wings. They are only produced once a year to mate with the queen. They then die. Workers Workers are all females. Some look after the eggs and feed the larvae. Others are soldiers, builders or food collectors. When a worker ant finds food, it goes back to the nest leaving a smell trail which other ants use as a path to the food source. Why do we need ants? Ants are good for the soil as they add air to it. Many plants rely on ants to spread their seeds. They are important food for birds, lizards and echidnas.

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