Awesome Ants

Awesome Ants

A Little History You've seen them marching through grass and across sidewalks. You may have even seen them crawling over your kitchen counter. We're talking about ants-tiny, strong, awesome ants.

Ants are about 100 million years old. They were crawling around under the dinosaurs! Between then and now, they've changed a lot. Today, over 10, 000 species of ants live on every continent except Antarctica. They have been able to survive so long because of their bodies and how they live.

Body Parts Like all insects, ants have six legs and three body parts. The back part of their body is the abdomen. This part holds the heart and stomachs. Some ants have stingers that they use to protect themselves. Their three pairs of legs attach to the middle part, called the thorax. Each leg has little hooks that allow ants to climb almost anything. Ants can even hear with their legs by feeling vibrations through the ground.

The head contains the brain, two eyes, antennae, and jaws. The jaws open and close like scissors. They are used for cutting and carrying things. Ants can lift more than twenty times their own weight. Ants also have other mouthparts for chewing food and drinking.

The two eyes are each made up of many smaller eyes. Even though ants have so many eyes, they can't see very well. Instead, they use their antennae to get around. The antennae are like all-in-one sense machines. Ants use them to taste, smell, hear, and communicate with other ants through touching. The long, thin antennae are always moving around.