Volume 41, Number 1, January 1995:
Collection and Maintenance of Ants
and
Studying Ants: A Beginning
by Mark B. DuBois

Text-only version

ISSUE HOME PAGE

ABOUT THIS ISSUE
- about KSN
- about the author

IN THIS ISSUE
- introduction
- collection
- maintenance, observation ant farm
- maintenance, classroom use
- project observations
- literature cited
- books for children on ants

Studying Ants: A Beginning
by Mark B. DuBois
- males, queens and worker ants
- establishing a colony
- caring for young
- growth of an ant colony
- ant senses
- gardening ants
- harvester ants
- parasitic ants
- acrobat ants
- army ants
- questions, activities and investigations with ants
- further reading

SLIDESHOW
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Collection and Maintenance of Ants to Use for Teaching
by Roger D. Akre, Laurel D. Hansen, and Elizabeth A. Myhre

and

Studying Ants: A Beginning
by Mark B. DuBois

ANT SENSES

Ants do not perceive the world in quite the same way humans do. They are surrounded with an exoskeleton. Imagine trying to sense air currents or the texture of objects when surrounded with this suit of armor. Although most ants have eyes, they are unable to sense red light - to them it appears dark. Since they live underground, most ants do not depend on vision but rely upon smells to communicate. Antennae serve the same function as our noses. Some ants are completely blind; others, such as army ants, are only sensitive to vibrations. When ants of some species become trapped by a tunnel collapse, they make a rasping sound (a process called stridulation) which attracts nestmates and signals them to dig rapidly. Several species in the Midwest will stridulate when held with a forceps. This noise is loud enough to be heard by human ears.

Figure 2. Trachymyrmex septentrionalis, head, full face view.