Working Class Insect

Ants are the ultimate metaphor for the working class.  Just like honey bees - ants function as parts of a whole. They cannot and do not survive as individuals - they survive as members of a group.  Ant society is a fascinating example of a superorganism.   

Ants enjoy a complicated social system complete with its own division of labor.  Workers gather food, maintain and defend the nest and tend eggs, larvae and pupae.  Members of the colony are generally all female. For a very short period prior to mating season they produce males.  The males perform no labor and following mating any that remain are banished from the colony or killed by the sisterhood.  

Nature is a cruel mother.  But I digress.      

A single anthill can range from less than an inch high to over ten feet in height.  This might possibly be the largest of anthills here at The Platz.  Weighing-in at a couple feet in height and more than five feet across - it is a whopper.        

Anthills are the by-product of thousands of busy ants excavating a tunnel network below the surface of the ground.  That mound is the result – as the excavation progresses the dirt is disposed above ground.  Judging from the size of this mound there has to be a vast tunnel complex beneath.          

The mound itself also contains a network of tunnels and chambers – locations for food storage, nurseries and dormitories for the workers.       

This mound was particularly bustling place as it was a warming spring day.  The colony had awakened from its overwinter slumber.  With the arrival of cold weather last year the colony closes the entrances to their tunnel network and goes deep underground and huddles protectively around the queen.  Like other critters the ants prepare for their hibernation by bulking-up in the fall with extra calories before they confine themselves in their bunker.  With the arrival of spring they’re back to work.        

I made an inquiry of the Insect Diagnostic Lab at the UW-Madison Department of Entomology for assistance in identifying these hard-working ants and to address the social structure of an ant colony.  Here is what I heard back:   

Given the size of the mound, it must be one of our species of field ants (Formica species).  This is a diverse genus with a bunch of species in the Great Lakes region.  Each species can vary in terms of the habitat it prefers, the size and structure of the nest/colony, and other factors.  Some species create "small" nests that might be the size of a dinner plate or larger.  Other species can create massive mounds many feet across.          

Ants are definitely fascinating though.  Some "primitive" types of ants have small colonies with little specialization within the nest.  Other ants species can have lots of specialization, including workers of different sizes for different tasks (soldiers for fighting and defending the colony, smaller workers for gathering resources, etc.).  In many ants, the queen (or queens) coordinate the function of the colony and lay eggs.  Workers (all females) do all the dangerous work of leaving the colony to gather resources.  Males typically don't do much, other than play a role in mating.                       

In the grand scheme of things, being "social" and having a colony is rare among insects.  Some types of bees and wasps display eusocial behaviour (most bees and wasps aren't social), ants also display social behaviour, and a few other isolated examples exist amongst the insects as well.

Ants are cool.  Who knew there was so much to know about this busy insect.  So do The Buddha proud.  Next time you're walking down the sidewalk - don't step on the ants.