Life Lessons from the Fascinating Army Ant

An article about the army ant wouldn't be complete without sharing the scientific Eciton burchelli name with its readers. Army ants are polymorphic, which means that individuals vary in size. They have long, hook-shaped mandibles that somewhat resemble a spider. They also have hooks on their feet called tarsal hooks, which they use to grip each other as they form bridges and to create the bivouac where they camp to rest. Oh, and they're venomous.

Polymorphic - an animal found in many forms.
Mandibles - the part of an insect used for biting and cutting food.
Tarsal - part of the body relating to the ankle.
Bivouac - a very simple temporary camp.

Making Babies
With their hooked mandibles, army ants hang on to each other to form a ball (bivouac /biv-wak/) that is a living, moving hive. They travel at night. The queen, who has no wings, waits for her worker ants to find her a winged male when it's time to mate. The female worker ants collect the male and escort him back to the bivouac where he mates with the queen - then dies. The queen has the ability to carry sperm so that she can fertilize all the eggs she wants after mating only one time. Talk about one-stop shopping!

It's good that the queen has this ability to fertilize her own eggs because the life span of an ant is only 45-60 days. If an intruder wanders in to the hive, his life expectancy is much shorter! Each colony has its own scent and can smell an alien with their antennae immediately.

Keeping House
Now, when the eggs are laid (larva) they are placed in the middle of the living hive. During this time, the hive slows down to allow the larvae to mature and pupate. But, when the group needs to move, they form a ball by hooking their mandibles together and holding on to one another. When the baby commandos are ready to reach out, the living hive permits the larvae to go to the outside edge until maturity.

During this nomadic existence, the hive needs food; that's when they travel at night. Once they've eaten their fill, they can go about two weeks before the next feeding. Did you know that army ants kill up to 100,000 animals in a day? This includes other insects, small rodents and in some cases larger animals like goats. If they stumble upon another ant colony, they "capture" the ants using them as slaves. But they never attack another hive of army ants. Some believe that army ants have a collective intelligence.

Who's in Charge?
As in any community there is a hierarchy. Of course the queen is the cat's ass, and then comes the worker ants that forage, build and collect food. Then, there are the soldier ants that we should all be afraid of. They are the ones born to protect the hive. That's all they do. However, once the alarm is sounded, all of the ants will go in to attack mode which is what makes them so dangerous.

All in all, the ants are only protecting what's theirs. Their family, their hive and their food. They usually only eat weakened, sick or newly deceased animals. However, these carnivores that are not to be feared by humans, should definitely be respected.

Lessons to learn from the ant:

• Stick together.
• Always bring a potential spouse home to meet the family.
• Remember to hold hands around the children.
• Let the children venture to edge of their world.
• Know your place in your world.
• Share your food with the family.
• Don't attack your own people.