What do ants eat and how often do they eat? Enemies of annoying insects - who eat ants.
To an inexperienced observer, all ants seem to be omnivores. If you look at the finds that they drag to their homes, then you can definitely find a dead caterpillar, a leaf, and a grain. But in fact, among these insects, like other representatives of the fauna, there is a division according to gastronomic preferences. Some species are omnivores, others are predators, others are vegetarians. What ants eat depends on their species, even if they drag things inedible to them home.
Ant diet
Depending on the species, habitat and time of year, the menu may vary. Even strict vegetarians, like getting into the house, change their addictions. For this reason, what ants eat in nature is very different from their gastronomic preferences in the apartment.
On a note!
Most ants have a division by type of food: larvae and eat protein food, working individuals eat easily digestible carbohydrates.
Ants often drink "honeydew" - the sweet juice of a plant that is released during a sharp drop in air temperature.
Woodworms: what do they eat
What do reapers eat
In nature, this ant eats crushed seeds of cereals and other plants that it picks up from the ground. Another source of food for the reaper is dry fruits of plants. With the "test" of cereals, the reapers feed their young. The most harmless species for humans. Often help plants settle. Since their food is grains, reapers store up to a kilogram of cereal grains for the winter. Insects usually fail to eat everything, and in spring the grains germinate.
Leaf cutters
The food of this group is the mycelium of the mycelium, which they breed on cut and crushed pieces of foliage. Insects feed only on mycelium, cutting off the fruiting body of the fungus at the stage of formation. They don't do much harm. But if the colony is large, they can gnaw all the leaves from the plants.
Garden pests and their "cows"
One of the serious enemies of gardeners -. The species is omnivorous, but if there is a choice, ants eat sweet secretions of aphids. If there are no aphids in the garden, the “shepherds” will carefully bring it with them, because they live in close symbiosis. Pests collect aphids and take them to an anthill, which they arrange in any place convenient for them:
- soil;
- old stump;
- the wall of the house;
- in the crack under the window sill.
In the last two cases, they break into the house. they eat everything they can find, justifying their omnivorousness. Finding sweet food: sugar or honey, - garden pest drag her into the anthill. In the garden, they can also not only breed aphids, but also harm plants. According to gardeners, representatives of the "black garden" species in the spring. Climbing into the hives for honey, these insects.
forest ants
Red forest ants are fairly harmless creatures.
On a note!
Sometimes this species is called red forest.
A species that has become fully accustomed next to a person in two centuries. Nutrition is no different from a person's menu. AT natural conditions indoor pests they eat the same things that their red-haired counterparts eat in the forest:
- plants' seeds;
- small invertebrates;
- insects and larvae.
- bread;
- sugar;
- potato;
- cereals;
- butter;
- meat;
- sausage;
- sweets.
To name what they do not eat is much easier than to list everything edible for these insects. As food, they are especially attracted to sweets. They are quite capable of eating only sweets, cookies, cakes and cakes.
At home, almost everyone becomes omnivorous and eats the same food as humans.
Tiny insects have many enemies in the animal kingdom. Of those who eat ants, anteaters are best known to people. But even a bear is not averse to eating arthropods and their larvae. The workers acquired grasping mandibles and a sting to defend themselves from attackers. But still, anthills are regularly destroyed by various animals.
Who eats ants in the middle lane
The most important anteater in our area is the clubfoot. The beast calmly destroys and licks hordes of goosebumps and their larvae from shaggy paws. No wonder there is a saying among the people - you can’t feed a bear with an ant.
Moles and shrews, bumping into ant passages, destroy the little workers. But insects are not the main source of food for them. For animals, arthropods serve as a light snack.
On a note!
Rodents living in the forest can also eat a running ant, but they do not destroy anthills, because they are afraid of numerous ant bites.
The frog eats ants on a par with other insects. She catches the hard worker with a sticky tongue and quickly swallows it.
Birds feed on ants in gardens and in the forest:
- sparrows;
- wrens;
- grouse;
- wagtails;
- bluethroats.
Woodpeckers are noble "anteaters". They can smell the bugs hiding in the bark. With its feathers, the bird sweeps out the "orderlies of the forest" and begins to quickly eat them.
Who eats ants in the tropics
Insects living here have developed more serious means of protection. Their stingers contain poison, and their mandibles tightly cling to the skin of the enemy. But the enemies of ants also live here.
The most famous anteater in the world. It belongs to a large family of anteaters. Each species belonging to this family feeds on working arthropods:
- giant anteater destroys ground anthills;
- pygmy hunts for the most part on the ;
- a four-legged anteater can get goosebumps both on the ground and on a tree.
The body structure of these animals is adapted for the destruction of ants. Broad paws rake the nest, tough wool protects against bites, and a sticky tongue helps to catch a lot of insects.
Interesting!
The anteater has poor eyesight. He searches for insects by smell.
In the tropics, not only anteaters eat animal ants. They are also hunted by other living creatures:
- armadillos;
- wryneck;
- antbird;
- woodpecker.
A woodpecker living in the Himalayas catches ants with a sticky tail, the feathers of which are covered with their heads. The plumage of the bird itself is covered with foul-smelling resin.
The ant fly is a bird that cannot fly. She deftly runs on the ground and preys on insects crawling on the ground.
There is even a fish - an anteater, which is called a archer. It knocks prey off the foliage with a short and sharp jet of water.
Although there are enough different hunters in nature, ants continue to be the most common on the globe. All this thanks to, where each individual works for the benefit of the whole family.
In nature, there are more than 110 species of reaper ants, of which 5 species also live in Russia. This is the most popular species for breeding in domestic anthills - formicaria. Let's find out how reapers live in nature and how to care for them in a human dwelling.
The appearance of reaper ants and their habitat
The body of insects is three parts are the head, thorax and abdomen. They are interconnected by movable bridges, which makes the reapers very flexible. There are three pairs of limbs on the chest. The large head has powerful jaws - mandibles, which are convenient for carrying food and grinding seeds and grains. The color of the ants is dark, reddish-brown. Their length is considered one of the largest among other families of ants: worker ants have a length of 4 to 9 mm, while the queen reaches a truly huge size - from 11 to 15 mm. The steppe ant reaper differs from other representatives of the ant family in its characteristic reddish-orange color.
Reaper ants live in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts in Asia, North and South Africa and America.
How the anthill is organized
Up to 5 thousand individuals can live in an anthill There is a strict hierarchy in the reaper ant colony: each member of the family is busy with his own business. The family consists of a uterus - it produces offspring, a soldier - they protect the anthill from dangers and help with harvesting, worker ants - they are engaged in the extraction of food and care for the young. There are also males and females - they mate with each other, creating new colonies.
Outside, the anthill is shaped like a volcano The ground part of the ants' habitation is a hole in the soil, along the edges of which there is a shaft of earth and debris from the brought prey. The underground part has a vertical tunnel, from which passages with cameras depart on the sides. In these rooms, ants equip pantries for storing food and "children's rooms" in which larvae are stored.
What do reaper ants eat
Particular attention should be paid to feeding and foraging by reapers. Since they most often feed on cereals, it has long been believed that ants are agricultural pests. However, studies have shown that insects only harvest crops that have fallen directly to the ground.
Stocks
It is very interesting for the reapers to collect provisions. As mentioned earlier, the harvest of grain occurs when it is on the ground. 
The labor force harvests about 1.5 kg of grain crops from the fields in one season
Scientists have found that harvester ants send out workers as much as there is available food. If there is a lot of it, then the workers return faster and the number of ants sent for food increases. But if they return slowly, then the number of sent ants decreases or stops altogether.
Hard-working reapers set up special rooms deep underground to store grain. In humid warm rooms, the seeds begin to germinate, and as soon as the first sprouts and roots appear, the ants immediately destroy the shoots. After that, large soldier ants grind the grain into powder with their powerful jaws and, wetting it with saliva, feed the larvae with this mixture.
Reproduction and lifespan of harvester ants
There is one queen in each nest of ants. Mating takes place in early spring in April, as reapers settle in the steppes with a warm climate. After fertilization of the uterus, the male dies, and the female goes to look for appropriate place to found a new colony. A full-fledged workforce appears by the end of summer.
The development cycle of ants is complete: egg - larva - pupa - adult The first three stages pass in 2-3 weeks each. Reapers reproduce in two ways - sexually and asexually. At the first, males and females are born, which are needed for further reproduction. Asexual reproduction is called parthenogenesis, that is, the female germ cell develops into an adult organism without fertilization by a male. With such reproduction, only worker ants are born.
Larval development
After fertilization, after some time, the uterus lays eggs. After that, they are moved to separate cells and monitored for compliance with favorable conditions. The division into worker castes occurs already at the time of hatching from the eggs of the larvae. Which caste the future individual will belong to depends on how much food the larva consumes. 
The well-being of future worker ants is provided by breadwinners and nurses
The young generation is constantly growing, pupating in 1–2 months. The pupa has a thin shell, which allows you to monitor the development of the insect. At the last stage, a full-fledged ant appears, which lives from one to five years.
Reaper Ant Stings
It is known that reapers are peaceful insects, and without apparent reason don't attack first. But if an external irritant appears or the anthill is in danger, the ants immediately rush to the attack. The bite causes a burning sensation, and the bite site swells up badly. Sometimes allergic reactions of the body to the poison of the reapers are possible.
Video: reaper ant bite
Harm from ants
Ants bring benefits to nature by spreading seeds various plants. But if the reapers are found in the immediate vicinity of the grain warehouses, then they can cause damage to the future harvest. They are unlikely to steal all the grain at once, but once spotting a hot spot, they will raid with enviable constancy.
How to keep harvester ants at home
Now many people as a hobby start the so-called ant farms, which are transparent boxes made of plastic or glass. Inside them is an imitation of an anthill - numerous passages and chambers. 
Thanks to the transparency of the walls, you can study the life of insects in detail
Acquisition of an anthill - what anthills are, their cost
A home anthill, or formicarium, looks like an aquarium or a showcase, inside of which there is a filler. There are simple and complex systems, in which a climate favorable for the life and reproduction of ants is automatically created and maintained: lighting, humidity and temperature. The sizes are different - from small desktop farms to bulky anthills for the living room or office. The filler for formicaria is used differently: gel, gypsum or a mixture of soil and sand.
The so-called "Cubus" and "Coliseum" models are in the form of a cylinder, cube or double-walled display. The space between them is filled with multi-colored sand, in which ant colony builds passages and chambers. The cost of such structures is high - from 3 thousand rubles, but the kits include food for ants, sand and other additions. 
Formicarium brand "Coliseum"
A gel-filled anthill is similar to an aquarium, but filled not with water, but with a transparent gel. Such a house for reapers does not require careful maintenance, but every 5-7 days the lid of the aquarium should be opened for a couple of minutes to ventilate. The price of such formicariums is low - from 500 rubles. 
This filler is safe for people and insects - it is both a habitat and a breeding ground for ants.
A gypsum farm is affordable in price (from 700 rubles). This is the most popular type of domestic anthills. The surface of gypsum is often stained in bright colours, which makes the formicarium a stylish and unusual addition to any interior. 
The plaster model is perfect for children and beginners in breeding ants.
Ant houses can be purchased at specialized online stores. The catalogs have trusses of various models and sizes. Pet stores, as a rule, do not sell ant farms.
Making your own formicaria
If you are not attracted by prices in stores, then there is an opportunity to make a formicarium with your own hands. For the base, you can take two jars with transparent walls - large and small, so that later you can fill the space between them with the selected material. It can be a mixture of soil and sand, gypsum or gel. 
Choose a large jar with a wide mouth to make it easier to fit a smaller jar
Soil and sand farm
First, prepare a mixture of one part sand and two parts soil. Make sure that the composition is slightly damp - it will be easier for the ants to break through the passages and chambers. The mixture will need so much that the space between the banks is filled 1.5 cm from the edge of the vessels. Make small holes in the lid for air circulation.
gel farm
Making such a farm on your own will be interesting for both adults and children. To do this, you will need gelatin and a flat container with a lid and transparent walls.
Three bags of gelatin, 15 grams each, pour 0.5 liters of hot water and stir well until the gelatin dissolves. Then add another 0.5 liters of water. Cool the resulting composition, pour into the selected container and refrigerate until completely solidified. Then take out the container and wait for the mass to warm up to room temperature. Since the gel composition is also food, it is not necessary to feed the ants in such an anthill - they will get the necessary food from their house.
gypsum truss
This formicarium is attractive in that it is completely open for observation of ants. To create an anthill, take a transparent container, then dilute the gypsum to a state of thick sour cream. Pour the composition into a plastic transparent container, placing a plastic tube at the side. This is necessary in order to then pour water into the gypsum to maintain humidity in the formicarium.
The blank dries completely in about a week. After three - four days after pouring, remove it from the mold. To make the plaster come out easily, dip it in hot (not boiling) water for thirty seconds.
Now show your Creative skills- draw passages and rooms on the plaster. The composition is still raw, so it will not be difficult for you to scratch out any tunnels.
Drill the entrance for future residents of the farm with a drill. Take any tool convenient for you (stationery knife, screwdriver, etc.) and start making tracks according to your drawing, choosing plaster from them. Proceed with caution so that the wet composition does not crumble.
At the bottom of the formicarium, make indentations for better distribution of water and moistening of the anthill. Do not forget about the ventilation holes in the container. Drill them with a drill (diameter 0.5 mm) in the lid and side walls.
After that you need to dry well. plaster base and place it back in the container. If it does not fit, hold the form again in hot water 30 seconds. Your anthill is ready to move in.
Video: do-it-yourself gypsum farm
Where to buy ants for the farm. How to choose them correctly
You can purchase harvester ants in special online stores. The price is small - about 900 rubles. Typically, a colony includes about ten workers and one queen. But some stores offer a choice of formicaria with large quantity ants - about fifty individuals.
As a general rule, reaper ants are the best for home ant farms. They are large in size and unpretentious in terms of food.
How to feed and water ants
At home, reapers feed on sunflower, poppy or pumpkin seeds. Canary mixture is also suitable as feed - it consists of cereals and seeds of various plants. Do not feed insects with grain that is intended for sowing. He has a special treatment that has a detrimental effect on ants - they can die.
Meal worms, cockroaches or crickets are suitable as protein foods. Food made up of chicken meat or yolk, also has a detrimental effect on ants.
To organize a drinking bowl for ants, purchase a small test tube, fill it with water and tightly plug the hole with cotton wool - wetted with water from the test tube, it will become a source of water in the anthill. The main thing is to change the plug as it becomes dirty in order to avoid the appearance of mold in the formicarium.
Video: Reaper Ant Feeding
Do ants need wintering in formicaria
Reapers do not need wintering, but for the full development of the anthill, it is necessary to turn off the heating in the formicaria for several months a year. And also stop feeding them grain so that the colony lives on its own grain reserves.
What to do if the uterus died
If your uterus suddenly died, then most likely your formicarium is doomed to extinction. new queen it is pointless to add it - the ants will not take it for their uterus. Without a queen, worker ants do not live long and will soon die too. So there is only one way out - to acquire a new queen or colony and form another formicarium.
We learned about the amazing and complex life of ants, their habits and reproduction. Also received useful information about making formicaria and caring for a colony at home. And how your small farm will develop further depends only on the insects themselves.
What does an ant look like? The family of arthropods consists of three castes: females, males, workers. The structure of an ant: chest, belly and head. The eyes of arthropods consist of a large number of lenses, but they do not give clear images and do not distinguish between movements. The upper region of the insect's head is equipped with 3 simple eyes; there are also mustaches on the head to sense the world around.
How many legs does an ant have
Ants have 6 legs with claws, thanks to which it moves along different surfaces. Ants with wings mate annually in the air. The antennae of insects transmit the smell by which the individual determines the place of food, recognizes members of his family, reports alarm and calls for help. The speed of an ant in some species develops up to 3 km / h.
The weapon of insects from the enemy is poison (formic acid) and strong jaws, with which the insect can injure. The bite of an ant is fatal for the victim. The sizes of insects depend on the status of their community and the varieties of this order.
How much can an ant lift?
The weight of an ant depends on the type of insect 1-150 mg. Often encountered ants weigh 3-5 mg, but can lift loads 50 times their own body.
What do ants eat
Insects are omnivores. Everything that does not meet on the way, the ants drag home. The diet consists of protein and plant foods.
All individuals are divided into different castes, on which the life expectancy of insects depends.
- Working individuals live 1-3 years. Small insect species live less than large ones. Insects living in cold climates live less than those living in middle lane, these in turn are smaller than those living in warm regions.
- The life cycle in the nature of males is calculated in weeks. The main task of this caste is mating. After performing their duties, they are killed by their ants or they die.
- The queen lives longer than all individuals of the family, some types of queens live up to 20 years. Interesting information: the uterus of an ant - woodworm lives 28 years.
Ants live in in perfect order and distribution of responsibilities. The hierarchy of ants has a strict order, each is busy with his own business and has responsibilities.
Anthill
What anthills are found
Ants build their homes both on the ground and in the underground, however, the tropics are harsh, the coast is flooded, it is difficult for tropical individuals to build an anthill. Climatic conditions forced insects to migrate to trees; for tropical insect species, the construction of hanging anthills is a common thing that a tropical ant can easily cope with.
How does an anthill work?
The construction of the anthill begins with a small hole or recess under the stone, where the fertilized uterus is located. She does not eat and does not come to the surface until the first individuals hatch and grow, which she feeds with trophic eggs.
When the first adults grow up, the ant queen receives food from them, caring for eggs, and expanding the anthill. Insects pile garbage from the nutria of their house at the entrance, large mounds line up, sometimes exceeding more than 2 meters.
How many ants are in an anthill
A large anthill is inhabited by more than 1 ml of individuals, medium-sized buildings - 200,000-300,000 individuals. There are ants that do not build anthills, for example, roaming ants, or as they are also called, roaming ants.
What does an anthill look like from the inside? 
Next to the uterus are working individuals, the so-called retinue. They feed, care, lick, court ant eggs. A month later, they move to the far zone of the protected area for work: searching for food, foraging. The food found is transferred to the higher authorities, after which the food is distributed throughout the anthill.
All ants are provided with information about the nest and their queen. The uterus emits pheramones, which are licked by caring individuals, thanks to a special goiter, the ants pass along the chain to each other. Thus, there is complete information.
There are times when an ant is executed for coming several times without food.
The device of the anthill from the inside deepens up to 2 meters, this is necessary not only for safety, but also for the extraction of water. Moisture is necessary for drinking, moisturizing pupae and larvae, and maintaining a microclimate.
Lifestyle
The way of life of ants is industrious, therefore the mansions are built with conveniences. There are rest rooms where the insects sleep in a heap. AT warehouses stored grain, dried insects, seeds. AT warm rooms live larvae and small ants, which are looked after, taken out for a walk to play.
Ant breeding
Worker ants, females only. Every year at the same time, heterosexual ants with wings fly out for the breeding process. Young winged ants fly out to mate, this process takes place in the air, after fertilization, the females gnaw their wings, do not eat or drink anything until the young individuals appear. Ant developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa. Males die of hunger, or their relatives can eat them, they are not needed. This is how ants reproduce.
Ant species
ant reaper
Steppe ant harvester (European) is a very thrifty insect. Characteristics of nutrition, differs from relatives. Reapers feed their larvae with ground grain of plants, while their relatives feed their offspring with animal protein.
roaming ants
Roaming ants are constantly migrating, hence the name. When food runs out in a certain area, insects line up in a column. The army ants move every week, they don't have permanent place residence. At each halt, working individuals build a temporary nest with their bodies, where the queen produces more than 20,000 eggs in a week.
When moving in a column, army ants carry eggs and larvae in the middle, ants - soldiers walk along the sides. During the trip, insects actively hunt.
red ants
The red forest ant has an impressive size, reaching 1 cm. The merit of the forest ant in the construction of the largest anthills. Colonies of red wood ants live in single families. Winged sex ants fly out to mate from May to early July, depending on the region.
The red wood ant benefits forests by destroying numerous pests. Forest ants love the sweet nectar of aphids, thereby harming fruit trees.
fire ants
Fire ants are the most dangerous insects in his kind. He has a sting hidden in his abdomen, with a strong poison. Insects feed on protein and plant foods.
Fire ants, in addition to insects, caterpillars and larvae, are able to hunt small mammals, sometimes amphibians. For this case, insects gather in a heap and climb up the legs of the victim, dig into the body together. When the fire ants in large numbers, injected with a poisonous substance, the animal can get poisoned and die after a few hours.
Fire ants can attack people, protecting their home, their bite causes pain and burns, in some cases leads to death. This type insects often make nests in human dwellings. These are the most dangerous insects, which are called ants - cannibals. In some countries, entire villages had to be moved from the invasion of these pests.
The largest ant in the world is African, the size of its uterus reaches 6 cm. next view Ants are bulldogs in terms of height. Description: Working class - 2 cm, males 16-18 mm, soldiers - 26-28 mm, uterus - 30-33 mm.
Lomehuza is a killer
Ant killer - beetle - lomehuza. A small beetle sneaks into the storage of ant offspring and lays eggs. The ants try to fight him, but he emits a substance that has a narcotic effect on the ants. After licking this substance, the ants do not understand that it is a stranger and court them like their family member.
Over time, under the influence of a euphoric state, the anthill ceases to live and reproduce normally. Individuals become incapacitated, the remaining ants are sick, an anthill without eggs gradually dies. The ant killer has done its job.
The role of ants in nature
What benefits do ants bring to the forest and people? Ants loosen the soil, allowing oxygen to reach the roots. Forest ants are the orderlies of the forest, they protect the forest from insect pests. What are the benefits of ants? They saturate the soil useful elements: potassium, nitrogen, humus.
What role does ant venom play in humans? Ant venom is used in medicine, treats arthrosis, gout, sprains, varicose veins, back pain, sciatica. Today it is very fashionable to breed ant farms. The terrarium for ants is in demand, interest in insects is growing. Available for sale different kinds insects.
What do ants eat
Ants are famous for their omnivorous nature. And not even so much forest and field ants, which can be found busily carrying a dried leaf, a dead fly or a bread crumb into an anthill. Pharaoh ants, common household pests, are especially distinguished by their versatility in nutrition. They can find abundant food sources even in a perfectly clean apartment. Sometimes it seems that these ants eat everything: a drop of oil that has fallen on the floor behind a tile, crumbs near the baseboard, sugar not swept from the table - and on this food a whole anthill grows and develops safely.
But scientists who have studied in detail what ants eat, found out that after all, these insects cannot be called illegible swallows. In the choice of food, they are very similar to humans: although their diet may include thousands of products, they eat according to a strict system. And besides, among the ants there are such gourmets for whom only one very rare and exotic product is suitable for food.
Standard diet of the most common ant species
The nutrition of ants of most species is a wide range simple products both animal and plant origin. Pharaoh ants, and in the tropics - other species that settle in residential buildings, actively and with pleasure also eat synthetic foods used for the preparation of semi-finished products or as seasonings.
It is noteworthy that the ants drag all the products that they come across into the anthill, after which all this food ration is divided in a certain order among the members of the colony:
- the larvae eat mainly protein foods of animal origin. In nature, these are the remains of other insects or larger animals, eggs of various pests, and in a house or apartment - additionally dairy products, gelatin, and the remains of egg dishes. For larvae, protein food is essential - they need to grow and develop.
In ants, it is difficult to isolate any product that prevails in the diet. If only because each species occupies its own ecological niche and specializes in obtaining certain feed.
Some ants are obligate predators. For example, wandering ants or cerapachis ants feed almost exclusively on insects at all stages of their development.
The queen also feeds mainly on protein food, and in many species, the ants caring for the queen specially chew food for her and provide the most convenient “dessert” for consumption.
basis carbohydrate diet many species of ants are honeydew and honeydew. The first is the sweet juices secreted by the leaves of trees during sharp fluctuations in temperature. The second is the sugary secretions of some insects, among which aphids are best known.
According to scientists, in ordinary red wood ants, honeydew makes up about 60% of the diet! No wonder these forest workers are so attached to their herds of milking aphids.
And carpenter ants collect gums as a source of carbohydrates - everyone knows tree resin, allocated in places of damage to the bark of a tree. Nevertheless, they are also very attached to aphid colonies - all ants need to eat often, and gum is released on the bark intermittently.
In reaper ants, the basis of the carbohydrate diet is dry grass seeds - a fairly coarse and solid food. The work of the soldiers of these ants in their free time from the defense of the nest is to grind such seeds with powerful jaws to produce a kind of soft gruel, which the rest of the colony can eat.
How often do ants eat?
Ants feed frequently - several times a day. As a rule, forager ants (those whose task is to find and transport food) combine business with pleasure, eating part of the food taken to the anthill. Ants in the anthill are constantly fed from the collected stocks.
Many anthills are inhabited by insects that have adapted to the neighborhood with ants - some beetles and their larvae, certain types moth. Usually they protect themselves with the ability to secrete honeydew, thanks to which the ants not only do not offend them, but also allow them to feed on their own eggs. Each ant that runs past such a tenant will not miss the opportunity to tickle the beetle or caterpillar with its antennae and receive a portion of sweet syrup in return.
Ants can starve for a long time only during the wintering period, and then only during wintering with hypothermia. Most domestic ants wintering underground do not hibernate, and in winter they continue to be actively awake in a clogged anthill. For food during this period, they use previously collected abundant supplies.
Reaper ants, common in the southern regions of our country, can collect up to a kilogram of seeds in an anthill during the warm period of the year - this is quite enough for them for a normal life of the colony in winter. During wintering, there are no larvae in the anthill, and the colony does not need protein food. By the way, seeds make up about 97% of the diet of harvester ants.
During wintering, ants can starve, especially when the temperature drops. Ants living in the northern part of Russia can hibernate up to 9 months a year without eating anything.
Fans of keeping ant colonies at home know that the main rule for successful breeding of ants is the constant availability of food in free access for insects. Even during wintering, when an artificial anthill is placed in a refrigerator, food is constantly put into the feeder: at temperatures above zero, some foragers can run out of the nest in search of food.
An important type of food for all ants is the so-called trophic eggs - eggs laid by the uterus during a period of excess food and do not develop into larvae. Their ants eat when there is a lack of other food in the "hungry" months.
Ants-gourmets, or examples of narrow food specialization
Among ants, there are a large number of species that prefer to eat only one or two products instead of a wide variety of food. Among these types are the following:
- Ants-leaf cutters. being one of the few living beings in general who have learned to engage in agriculture. They collect pieces of leaves bitten by foragers in an anthill, chew these leaves into a mushy mass, put them in special chambers in a nest that act as greenhouses and feed on mushrooms developing in the leaf mass. At the same time, the leaves themselves are not suitable for ants, because they are too coarse and malnourishing.
At the same time, the nutrition of ant larvae is so specific that it should be discussed separately.
What do ant larvae eat?
According to the method of nutrition of the larvae different types Ants are divided into two types:
- capable of self-feeding
- and unable to feed themselves.
The latter are more numerous. Adult ants feed them by the trophollaxis method, that is, by passing semi-digested food from their esophagus to the larva.
Larvae that are able to feed themselves eat dead insects or other protein food brought into the anthill, sometimes trophic eggs and even larvae from other anthills. And only leaf-cutting ants feed their younger generation with grown mushrooms.
Due to the fact that in winter time ants of middle latitudes do not have access to protein food, for one year in temperate climate they usually give one generation, and only adult ants that are able to feed on plant reserves leave for the winter. In the same ants that hibernate during the winter, the larvae can also hibernate - they do not need food in a state of suspended animation.
From what kind of food the larva receives, it will depend on whether it will turn after pupation into a working ant or into an individual capable of reproduction - the uterus. In this way, the anthill is similar to a real democratic society: the worker ants in it decide how many workers will be in each colony, and how many will continue the family.