Siafu Driver Ants

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Mar 26, 2009  Can a minute driver ant outwit a much larger red ant. Great clip from BBC show Ant Attack.

Oct 20, 2007  Ants. Hello my name Stephanie I am going to Africa to study the African Army Ant. Before I leave I will do a little research so I.

Ant communication is accomplished primarily through chemicals called pheromones. Because most ants spend their time in direct contact with the ground, these chemical.

Aug 05, 2009  Siafu Safari ants are some of the most vicious insects out there - as I found out the hard way. As the worker ants go out for the day, the warrior ants.

Ants

Dorylus, also known as driver ants, safari ants, or siafu, is a large genus of army ants found primarily in central and east Africa, although the range also extends.

Ants are so successful and common

that many ant species specialize on eating other ants

.Big Bad Wolf---

Lacewing larvae prey primarily on aphids, but many aphids are protected

by ants who enjoy the aphid s secretion of honeydew a sugary, liquid

waste product. To get by the ant shepherds, the spiny, grublike larva

coats itself in the discarded shells of aphids or in the fuzzy white

wool that some aphids are coated with. The ants, who s primary senses

are touch and smell, cannot tell the difference between the disguised

lacewing and a live group of aphids.

Ant Slavers---

Ants of the genus Polyergus are fierce, powerful insects so geared

towards fighting that they do not know how to feed themselves. They

depend entirely on ants of the genus Formica, which Polyergus keep as

slaves. Formica workers, stolen right from their own colonies, are

forced to perform all non-combative duties in the Polyergus nest

including excavation and rearing young. Without any slaves, an adult

Polyergus can starve to death surrounded by food.

Foster Home---

One species of tropical caterpillar the Blue Butterfly lives in the nests of stinging ants.

The caterpillar secretes sweet, delicious honeydew that encourages the

ants to keep it alive and healthy. When the caterpillar hatches from its

pupa as a butterfly, the ants even escort it out of the nest and protect

it until its first flight.

---The creepiest ants you have ever heard of---

Discovered in 2000, Madagascan Dracula Ants feed on the blood of their

own larva, scratching them open and drinking just enough to sustain

themselves without killing the young. Larva themselves eat normal food

brought by the workers, but have been observed running and hiding when

an adult enters their chamber.

Walking Bombs---

Camponotus saundersi is a malaysian ant species with the incredible

defensive behavior of self-destructing. Two oversized, poison-filled

mandibular glands run the entire length of the ant s body. When combat

takes a turn for the worse, the ant violently contracts its abdominal

muscles to rupture its body and spray poison in all directions.

Parasitic Ants---

Solenopsis daguerrei is a species of ant that has taken on a parasitic

lifestyle. It has no worker class or even a colony at allthe species

exists only as reproductive males and females in contrast, the

thousands of workers and soldiers forming the bulk of a normal ant

colony are entirely sterile females. Females actually attach themselves

to the queens of black or red fire ants, disguising themselves with the

scent of the host colony and taking full advantage of their resources.

The fire ants will unknowingly maintain an entire brood of the

parasite s young as their own.

Silent Takeover---

Another form of parasitic ant is Lasius umbratus. After mating, the

queen lands outside an established ant colony and hunts for one of their

workers, which she will kill to obtain the host colony s odor. She will

enter the nest undetected, kill the queen, and take her place. The host

colony will tend to this imposter queen and her eggs until every

original worker and soldier has died naturallyleaving only a pure

colony of Lasius

Like all insects, ants have six legs. Each leg has

three joints. The legs of the ant are very strong so they can run very

quickly. If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could

run as fast as a racehorse. Ants can lift 20 times their own body

weight. An ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells. A human brain has

10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size

brain as a human.

The average life expectancy of an ant is 45-60 days. Ants use their

antenae not only for touch, but also for their sense of smell. The head

of the ant has a pair of large, strong jaws. The jaws open and shut

sideways like a pair of scissors. Adult ants cannot chew and swallow

solid food. Instead they swallow the juice which they squeeze from

pieces of food. They throw away the dry part that is left over. The ant

has two eyes, each eye is made of many smaller eyes. They are called

compound eyes.

The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the

food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other

ants. Like all insects, the outside of their body is covered with a hard

armour this is called the exoskeleton. Ants have four distinct growing

stages, the egg, larva, pupa and the adult. Biologists classify ants as

a special group of wasps. Hymenoptera Formicidae There are over 10000

known species of ants. Each ant colony has at least one or more queens.

The job of the queen is to lay eggs which the worker ants look after.

Worker ants are sterile, they look for food, look after the young, and

defend the nest from unwanted visitors. Ants are clean and tidy insects.

Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest

and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump. Each colony of ants

has its own smell. In this way, intruders can be recognized immediately.

Many ants such as the common Red species have a sting which they use to

defend their nest.

The common Black Ants and Wood Ants have no sting, but they can

squirt a spray of formic acid. Some birds put ants in their feathers

because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of the parasites. The

Slave-Maker Ant Polyergus Rufescens raids the nests of other ants and

steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch, they work as slaves within

the colony. The worker ants keep the eggs and larvae in different groups

according to ages.

At night the worker ants move the eggs and larvae deep into the nest

to protect them from the cold. During the daytime, the worker ants move

the eggs and larvae of the colony to the top of the nest so that they

can be warmer. If a worker ant has found a good source for food, it

leaves a trail of scent so that the other ants in the colony can find

the food. Army Ants are nomadic and they are always moving. They carry

their larvae and their eggs with them in a long column.

The Army Ant Ecitron Burchelli of South America, can have as many

as 700,000 members in its colony. The Leaf Cutter Ants are farmers. They

cut out pieces of leaves which they take back to their nests. They chew

them into a pulp and a special fungus grows it. Ants cannot digest

leaves because they cannot digest cellulose. Many people think ants are

a pest but I like them. To stop them coming into my kitchen I put some

sugar outside. They they have so much to eat that they are not

interested in coming into my kitchen.

The Parasol ants grow a kind of

mushroom from which they feed. Sometimes the size of the mushrooms

chambers can be as big as a watermelon. The ants collect pieces of

leaves and flowers for nourishing the soil in which the fungus grows.

Ants keep their nests very clean. They usually have special chambers for

waste materials and dead ants. Some ant species have small scavenger

insects living inside the nest. These insects eat the waste and help to

keep the nest clean.

Some species of ants have soldiers with a plug-shaped head. The

soldiers function is to use their heads like stoppers to close the

entrance to the nest. This prevents other ants or insects getting into

the nest. To enter the hole the workers of the colony must identify

themselves by tapping the soldier s head with the antennae.

The queen

ant may live up to 18 years. She produces a chemical called queen

substance that the workers lick from her body. This substance tells the

workers that the queen is well and healthy.

The Rove-beetle is an ant

parasite that lives inside the nest. It succeeds in fooling the workers

by imitating their behavior. The beetle then feeds on the ant eggs. It

even clings to the queen s abdomen eating the eggs as she lays them.

The larvae excrete liquid waste material from their anus, every time a

worker touches their hind body. This liquid waste is very similar to

urine. The worker then licks it up and carries it away in her mouth. ant

with larvae

The exploding ant is one of the most curious ones. When

the ant is threatened its abdomen explodes.

Harvester ants collect and

store seeds. This ants crack open the grains and eat their inside. Their

ant hills have many chambers filled with seeds which are robed by the

Yellow Thieves. The Yellow Thief ant builds its nest near the

Harvester s nest. These ants make small tunnels to the Harvester s seed

storages and steal their grains. Because these tunnels are very small

the larger Harvester ants can not follow.