ANT ANATOMY

Ant Anatomy:

The anatomy of ants is very interesing. Use this diagram , that shows the main body parts of ants, and the information below to learn about about the anatomy of ants.

The first thing you will notice in this diagram of an ant's anatomy is the three main divisions. The head, the trunk, and the metasoma. Ant bodies, like other insects have an exoskeleton . Their skeleton is on the outside - not covered by skin, muscles, and tissue like humans.

1) The head of an ant has several imporatant parts. First the eyes. Ant eyes are a lot like flies. They have many small eyes connected together. This enables ants to see movement very well.
Also Attached to the head of the ant are two feelers. The feelers are special organs of smell that help ants communicate. If you have every seen an ant find a food source, it is not long before the ant communicates to his friends and their are many ants there. Ants release pheromones (chemicals that have different smells) to communicate with each other. The feelers pick up these smells as signals.

The head also has two strong pinchers which are used to carry food, to dig, and to defend. Just inside the mouth is a small pocket where ants can store food. They can give this food to other ants in need.

2) The trunk of the ant is where all 6 legs are attached. At the end of each leg is a sharp claw that helps ants climb and hang onto things.

3) The metasoma of the ant is a poison sack. Ants are closely related to wasps and other stinging insects. Many types of ants have stingers and can inflict a very painful sting. This is a useful way to defend against the many predators ants have.

Inside Ants do not have lungs. Oxygen enters through tiny holes all over the body and Carbon Dioxide leaves through the same holes. There are no blood vessels. The heart is a long tube that pumps colorless blood from the head back to the rear and then back up to the head again. The blood kind of coats the insides of the ants and is then sucked into the tube and pumped up to the head again. The nervous system of ants consists of a long nerve cord that also runs from head to rear with branches leading to the parts of the body, kind of like a human spinal cord.

ANTS

All About Ants

Ants have been living on the Earth for more than 100 million years and can be found almost anywhere on the planet. It is estimated that there are about 20,000 different species of ants. For this reason ants have been called Earth's most successful species.

Ants build many different types of homes. Many ants build simple little mounds out of dirt or sand. Other ants use small sticks mixed with dirt and sand to make a stronger mound that offers protection from rain. Western Harvester ants make a small mound on top, but then tunnel up to 15 feet straight down to hibernate during winter. Ant mounds consist of many chambers connected by tunnels. Different chambers are used for nurseries, food storage, and resting places for the worker ants. Some ants live in wood like termites. Army ants don't make a home at all but travel in large groups searching for food.

Sociology: Ants are social insects, which means they live in large colonies or groups. Some colonies consist of millions of ants. There are three types of ants in each species, the queen, the sterile female workers, and males. The male ants only serve one purpose, to mate with future queen ants and do not live very long. The queen grows to adulthood, mates, and then spends the rest of her life laying eggs. A colony may have only one queen, or there may be many queens depending on the species. Ants go through four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Anatomy: Ants have three main parts. The head, the trunk(middle section), and the rear or metasoma. All six legs are attached to the trunk. The head consists of the jaws, eyes, and antennae. The eyes of ants are made up of many lenses enabling them to see movement very well. The antennae are special organs of smell, touch, taste, and hearing. The metasoma contains the stomach and rectum. Many species of ants have poison sacks and/or stingers in the end of the metasoma for defense against their many predators.

Organs: Ants do not have lungs. Oxygen enters through tiny holes all over the body and Carbon Dioxide leaves through the same holes. There are no blood vessels. The heart is a long tube that pumps colorless blood from the head back to the rear and then back up to the head again. The blood kind of coats the insides of the ants and is then sucked into the tube and pumped up to the head again. The nervous system of ants consists of a long nerve cord that also runs from head to rear with branches leading to the parts of the body, kind of like a human spinal cord.

Communication: If you watch ants for any length of time you will see that they really do communicate with each other and very effectively too. Ants communicate by touching each other with their antennae. Ants also use chemicals called pheromones to leave scent trails for other ants to follow.

Source: http://www.infowest.com/life/aants.htm