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Welcome to the world of ants -

There are thousands of ant species in the world, perhaps as many as 22,000. Of these, 13,800 have been classified.

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Highly sociable creatures -

Ants are eusocial insects, meaning they display an advanced level of social organization. The colony is a family community of which every ant is an integral unit.  

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Cooperative in nature -

Given their unique capabilities, ants lead a complex and highly utilitarian lifestyle, displaying skills such as cooperative brood care and division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. This allows their colonies to function as superorganisms.

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Caste system -

A single colony can number millions of individuals. There are generally three castes, or classes, within a colony: queens, males, and workers.

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Flights of fancy -

Some male ants, also called drones, have wings and are fertile to mate with the queen. And the queen performs only one task: egg laying.

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Strength in numbers -

Worker ants—females that never reproduce—are immensely strong for their size. In fact, some can carry up to 10–50 times their weight. If the average human had this ability, it would mean they would be able to lift 9,000 pounds (4,082 kilograms)!

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A working day -

Worker ants also forage for food, care for the queen's offspring, work on the nest, and help protect the community.

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Ecologically beneficial -

Ants play a vital role in the environment. These tiny critters turn and aerate the soil, allowing water and oxygen to reach plant roots. They also act as decomposers by feeding on organic waste, insects, or other dead animals.

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What would happen if ants became extinct? -

Such are the benefits provided by ants to the ecosystem that if these insects were ever to become extinct the food chain would collapse, a disaster that would affect every organism.

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Weaver ant -

Fortunately, such an event is unlikely to happen given that ants can be found almost anywhere in the world, with the exception of Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland, and some island nations. Pictured is a group of industrious weaver ants bridging a gap between foliage.

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Leafcutter ant -

Other species of ant worth placing under the spotlight include the equally energetic leafcutter ant. Did you know that the leafcutter numbers 47 different species, each of them found in the Western Hemisphere?

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Red ant -

So named for its reddish-brown body, the red ant is typically found across the globe hiding under stones and logs in the garden. Beware of disturbing this rusty-hued ant: it can deliver a nasty sting when threatened.

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Turtle ant -

A tree-dwelling ant species from the Americas, the turtle ant uses its unique plate-like head to block the entrances to nests. Fully adapted to their lofty environment, these ants are able to control the direction of their descent when falling from a tree, which is why they are also called gliding ants.

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Trap-jaw ant -

The trap-jaw ant has the ability to quickly open its mandibles an astonishing 180°. Found in the tropics and subtropics throughout the world, trap-jaw ants have the second-fastest moving predatory appendages within the animal kingdom, after the Dracula ant (a critically endangered species that has the grisly feeding habit of drinking the blood of its young).

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Honeypot ant -

A specialized worker ant, the honeypot ant functions as a living larder, storing honey and other liquidized food in its abdomen used later by fellow ants when sustenance is scarce.

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Carpenter ant -

The carpenter ant is indigenous to many forested parts of the world and has a prodigious appetite for wood. Carpenter ants, of which there are more than a 1,000 species, nest in the material and can be destructive to buildings.

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Bulldog ant -

Also known as the bull ant, the bulldog ant has the dubious honor of being cited by Guinness World Records as the most dangerous ant in the world. Delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite using its sting and jaws simultaneously, this species, found in coastal regions in Australia and New Caledonia, should be avoided at all costs.

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Jack jumper ant -

Another venomous ant native to Australia is the jack jumper ant, seen here engaged in battle with a rival colony's queen. If bitten, allergic persons can suffer from potentially deadly anaphylactic reactions.

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Pharaoh ant -

Present in virtually every area of the world, including Europe, the Americas, Australasia, and Southeast Asia, the pharaoh ant is a small yellow or light brown, almost transparent, ant notorious for being a major indoor nuisance pest, especially in hospitals.

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Big-headed ant -

One of the world's worst invasive ant species with an insatiable appetite for other ants and assorted insects, the big-headed ant has an attitude to match its physique. Found in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world, including the United States, big-headed ants are a threat to biodiversity, such is their reputation as a pest of agriculture.

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Bullet ant -

The sting from a bullet ant is so painful it's akin to being shot, according to those hapless enough to have come across this sinister resident of the humid lowland rainforests in Central and South America. In fact, the bullet ant's sting is one of the most excruciating of all insect stings, 30 times more painful than that of a wasp's.

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Red imported fire ant -

Native to South America, the red imported fire ant's name comes from the fact that it was accidentally introduced in Australia, New Zealand, several Asian and Caribbean countries, Europe, and the United States. Its notoriety as an aggressive pest spread quickly as a result.

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Safari ant -

A member of Dorylus, a large genus of army ants found primarily in central and east Africa, the safari ant carries with it a venomous sting and a bite so strong that according to ResearchGate the mandibles of this ferocious ant have on occasion been used as natural emergency sutures in remote regions of East Africa.

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Odorous house ants -

When crushed, the small black ants known as odorous house ants release an unpleasant smell, which has led to their nickname of "stink ant." The species is native to North America.

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Red wood ants -

Red wood ants are native to Eurasia. You're very likely to stumble across a wood ant nest while hiking through dense forested regions, the enormous dome-like colonies resembling shredded wood pyramids.

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Argentine ant -

The Argentine ant was originally native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and southern Brazil. Today, however, the ants are arguably the most invasive species of insect on the planet, inadvertently introduced by humans on a global scale. Especially aggressive, the Argentine ant is imperiling other insects species and small vertebrates in the ecosystem. 

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Giant Amazon ant -

We think of ants as being minuscule in dimension. But there's one species that truly bucks the trend: the giant Amazon ant. Females can reach 1.6 inches (2.6 cm) in body length, making them among the largest ants in the world.

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Giant forest ant -

Another contender for the title is the giant forest ant. Native to Southeast Asian forests, the soldiers of this species can grow up to an imposing 1.11 inches (2.8 cm). Pictured are two combatants sparring with each other.

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Army ant -

While many ant species have in their ranks regiments of soldiers, the army ant is a singular species that numbers over 200 different types of conscripts. Army ants are notorious for their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids." This "legionary behavior" is deadly and effective. Insects and small vertebrae unfortunate enough to find themselves in the path of an army ant raid can expect a slow and painful death.

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Fish hook ant -

Another large and extremely dangerous creature is the fish hook ant. The workers have three pairs of curved, razor sharp spines on their bodies, an effective defense against predators. But these can also be deployed as an offensive measure. When attacked, they'll hook onto an intruder with a vice-like grip, the edges acute enough to tear human skin.

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Velvet ant -

And to round off this gallery, here's a question: when is an ant not an ant? The answer is when it's a velvet ant! Velvet ant species are, in fact, a family of wasps, the females of which resemble large, hairy, and colorful ants. They are known for their extremely painful stings, though as a rule these critters are not aggressive. Velvet ants are distributed worldwide, with over 400 species alone occurring in the North American Southwest.

Sources: (National Geographic) (BBC Wildlife) (Guinness World Records) (ResearchGate)

See also: Are we facing an insect apocalypse? 

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