The largest ants in the world

Ants on earth are the most numerous insects. They occupy from 20 to 30% of living things on earth. There are many types of them - about 12,000. Among this number, there are individuals that reach large sizes. A person who has not thought about this does not even guess how huge they are. There are several types of these insects. Consider what is the largest ant in the world.

Family

The community of these fauna representatives is highly organized. The family includes brood, which in turn consists of eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult individuals (males and females). Among them there are individuals who are called workers. These include barren females, soldiers, and other groups of ants. Family sizes range from dozens of individuals to the colony. Almost in each of them there are males and several females (queens or queen) capable of reproduction. All members of a large family are hardworking and the life of ants subject to strict community laws.

Kinds

Some of the largest ants live in Africa. They belong to the genus Formicidae, the subfamily - Dinoponera Roger. They were first discovered in the 30s of the century before last. The length of this species of ants is from 30 mm. Their colony stretches to several kilometers and has millions of insects. Also apply to the most dangerous ants in the world. Later, large ants of such species of the genus Camponotus were discovered:

• Giga. Body length uterus It is about 31 mm, for soldiers it is 28 mm, for individuals of the working type - 22 mm. Its color is black, the legs are painted in yellow tones, brown and red shades are characteristic of the back. Their habitat is Asia.
  

  Interesting!

  Families are at war among themselves, defending their territory. The insects who lose the battle leave it.

• Vagus. This species is smaller. The length of the body reaches 12 mm, in the female it is about 16 mm. These ants can be found on the territory of Russia (Ural). There is only one uterus in the family. As soon as the offspring appears, it independently organizes the nest. The female prefers to choose among rotten stumps, stones, dried trees.
• Herculeanus. Another species of ant relatives. For the uterus and soldiers, the length reaches 20 mm, for individuals of workers - 15 mm, and only 11 cm for males. Their place of residence is chosen by forest strips located in North Asia and America, Europe, Siberia. Ants nest in the trunks of sick or dead trees, often causing irreparable harm, since such wood is used by industry.

Representatives of the genus Paraponera

Сlavata is not just huge ants, when a man sees them, he is horrified. Their bite is very painful and much more dangerous than the sting of wasps and bees. Pain torments a person throughout the day. At bullets ants, as they are often called, a powerful sting containing poison, which contains a paralyzing substance. As a result ant bite a person cannot move, seizures are possible. For allergy sufferers, a bite can lead to death.

Interesting!

Ants do not attack first, first they try to cause fear in the alleged victim - hissing and emitting an unkempt smell. In the Indian tribes of South America there is a special rite - dedication. It is carried out for the male population. The glove (this can be seen in the photo) is filled with ants. 10 minutes men hold her with their bare hands.At the end of such "execution" the hands become numb for a short time.

Bulldogs

I would also like to say about ants living in Australia. Local residents gave them the name - bulldogs. The length of their uterus is 4.5 cm, in individuals of workers it reaches up to 4 cm. Their body shape is similar to aspen, but unlike them they have no wings. This giant ant has very large jaws. They are half a centimeter protruding forward. Ant's weapons are notches located in the jaw.

Interesting!

A characteristic of bulldog ants is strength. They can drag loads that exceed them. own weight 50 times. Life period is about 5 years old. They overcome water barriers, make loud sounds that are not typical for other species of this kind of insects.

They prefer to live in humid areas, where they build nests. The family has hundreds of ants, sometimes about 1000 individuals live in it. Bulldogs are mobile, exhibit aggression, therefore pose a danger to humans.

The largest anthills in the world

It is logical to assume that large ants should have the largest anthill in the world. This is not so and its value does not always depend on this parameter. The larger the family, the larger anthill. Sometimes the dimensions of the nest reach a height of 1.7 m and a diameter of 3 meters. The value depends on the place where the construction will be carried out.

For many species of ants, a fundamental factor is the presence of moisture and greenery. Such conditions for this exist in the Amazon Delta, where it is humid, warm, a lot of vegetation, soft soil and a large amount of “building material”. Families of up to 5 million or more are found here.

Sometimes there is a merger of anthills, ate, they are located nearby. In such anthill, the colony counts up to 0.5 billion small and not very hard-working insects. Kind of ants also affects the size of the socket. But their family is less numerous and in nature there are ants that do not build nests at all.