Black Ants

Little black ants are native to the United States and are found throughout most parts of the country. They are found in houses, in the cracks in sidewalks, and on lawns. Little black ants are attracted to human foods, particularly cooked meats and vegetables, and those containing sugar. They are active day and night, and are often seen carrying food back to their nests.

raid the nests of other ant species for larvae and pupae, which become slave workers in their colony after growing to adulthood. Some species of slave-holding ants are called amazon ants. Some slave-holding ants can live without slaves, if necessary. Other species are completely dependent, being unable to carry on the tasks of their colony alone. Slave-holding ants are widely distributed throughout the world.

Ants have many different ways of life. Harvester ants gather seeds and store them in special chambers. When harvesters need food, they chew the seeds to make a pulp called ant bread. They squeeze the liquid out of this bread and swallow it for food.

Honey ants store their food, honeydew, in special workers. The workers store so much honeydew in their gasters that they cannot walk. They hang from the nest ceiling and spit up honeydew when other ants tap them.

Slave-maker ants steal pupae from other ants and raise them as their own. When the pupae develop, they work for the colony, digging tunnels and feeding the slave-makers.

Weaver ants build nests from leaves. To do this, some workers hold the sides of a leaf together. Others take silk-spinning larvae and pass them over the edges of the leaf to “weave” the edges together.

For the most part, social insects are not in danger. Their numbers are in the millions. And they reproduce at such a fast rate that they are not in danger of extinction. But these insects do face some dangers.

People often use strong chemicals to control insect pests. These pesticides can be dangerous to other insects, animals, plants, and the soil. They destroy both harmful and helpful insects.

Changes in the environment affect insects, just as they do all living things. But there are millions and millions of social insects. They will be creeping, crawling, and flying for a long time to come.

Ants make up the family Formicidae of the insect order Hymenoptera, which also includes bees and wasps. An example of a genus of carpenter ants is Camponotus; of driver ants, Eciton; of fire ants, Solenopsis; of fungus-growing ants, Atta; of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex; of honey ants, Myrmecocystus; of slaveholding ants, Polyergus. The little black ant is Monomorium minimum.