Antopia

Ant facts

Fastest ant: Sharan silver

Sharan silver speed: 1.3 mph

Ant male lifespan: 70 days                                     

Ant female lifespan: 180 days 

Diet: small insects, seeds, fruit, honeydew, and nectar

Sharan silver speed if human size: 200 meters per second 

Habitat: holes/ant nests, rubbish bins, trees, human homes, in the case of the nomadic army ants outside, under rocks, under leaves and under logs

Amount of ant species currently discovered: 16000

Vampire ants are a rare species of ant that suck the blood of other insects but prefer the blood of their own larvae /young. Unlike many ant types the vampire ants give birth themselves rather than using a Queen ant; this is why no vampire queen ant exists. They are able to consume semi solids like eggs and very soft insect flesh but prefer blood. Vampire ants do not drink the blood of their children while they are born, but instead drink there blood while they are in their pumas/eggs. They do this by gently piercing the gelatinous shell and sucking the younglings blood.

Thank you kurzgesagt in a nutshell for this video.

Picture about: A map of the Argentine ant super colony 

The Linepithema humile/ the Argentine ant originated from a island in the parana delter river. The difference between the Argentine ant and a average ant is they have multiple queens although they kill off 90% of them each year. Although the Argentine ant isn't a strong warrior. with its 2-3 millimetre body length and tiny mandibles (mandibles are the chopper things they have on their face also used as a weapon), they have a secret wepon, mass. Their fighting technique is to spray acid on to the enemy, iratating them and marking them as targets, before pulling off their limbs. So when queens from the same colony took to riding on trading boats, it allowed them to travel from South America to the Mediterranean zone of 6 continents, to Japan, New Zealand, Europe and Australia, making them the largest society on earth even bigger than the human one.

Thank you kurzgesagt in a nutshell for these videos.

Picture about: army ant on leaf

There are 200 species of Ection/army ants that are constantly killing and attacking their prey. Their prey consists of termites wasps and especially other ants. Unlike many ant species they do not live in nests and lead a sort of nomadic life. When they stay for the night they form a massive cover of workers over the Queen ant. They constantly invade other ant nests in massive wars where they usually turn out victorious. Some species of ant immediately evacuate themselves and all the larvae /eggs they can carry knowing that resistance is futile. Other species have a class of workers with big square heads to stuff in the entrances and prevent the army ant raids from entering. Most colonies however get destroyed and raided instantly with barely a fight.

Picture about: enslaver ant standing on a leaf

The polerphis/ slaver ant measuring 10 millimetres in length has a particularly interesting way of asserting dominance. It uses other species as slaves, and is the best at it out of the 50 ant species that practice it. They will start by invading another colony and stealing its offspring. The reason why the enslaver ants attacks are so effective is because of their ability to release chemicals that confuse the defenders. After the battle a few larvae are eaten as a sort of snack. Most however are taken to a room where the polerphis workers spray the larvae/ eggs with hormones, imprinting themselves onto them like a mother duck would imprint herself onto her ducklings. This means when the larvae hatch they they act like they are part of the colony and set about feeding, hunting, cleaning the nests and generally helping their masters. However to make a new colony a young polerphis ant queen will challenge a ant queen of another colony to a duel. If the attacking ant queen wins she will cover herself in the deceased ant queen's pheromone taking on her identity. The ants in the defeated queen's colony will groom and feed their new ruler as if pledging their allegiance. And that is the life of the enslaver ants. Check the video down below for more information.