Welcome to Ant City! Or how does an anthill work? Anthill: device, stages of construction, photo. An anthill from the inside: division into castes and interesting facts from the life of ants How an anthill works inside

Anthill cutaway

An anthill in a section.

The structure of the ant.

A typical anthill, in which the family of red forest ant lives, has a complex multi-chamber device. In such a structure, erected on an old stump, up to one and a half million ants can live.

1. Covering of needles and twigs. Protects the home from the vicissitudes of the weather, is repaired and renewed by worker ants.

2. "Solarium" - a chamber heated by the rays of the sun. In the spring, the inhabitants come here to warm up.

3. One of the entrances. Guarded by soldiers. Serves as a ventilation duct.

4. "Cemetery". This is where the worker ants carry dead fellows and garbage.

5. Winter chamber. Insects congregate here to survive the half-hibernation cold.

6. "Bread barn". This is where the ants store the grains.

7. The royal chamber, where the uterus lives, which lays up to one and a half thousand eggs a day. Working ants look after her.

8. Chambers with eggs, larvae, and pupae.

9. "Cowshed" where ants contain aphids.

10. "Meat pantry" where foragers bring caterpillars and other prey.

The structure of the ant

In the world, according to rough estimates, there are a billion billion ants belonging to 12 thousand species. Their total biomass is approximately equal to that of humanity.

1. A brain with approximately 500,000 neurons.

2. Intestines.

3. The stalk is a narrow part of the body that connects the chest to the abdomen and gives flexibility to the movements of the insect.

4. Metapleural gland. It produces antibiotics that protect the ant from bacteria.

5. Nervous system. Consists of three thoracic and several abdominal ganglia.

6. Goiter. Contains liquid digested food, which the ant regurgitates and passes on to other members of the colony in the process of trophallaxis - food exchange.

7. Chitinous exoskeleton. Protects the body, provides strength and supports muscles.

8. Sting. Not available for all species.

9. Dufurov's iron. Produces pheromones, which serve as signals for ants to follow the trail.

10. A leg with five sections.

11. Poisonous gland. In the red ant, it secretes formic acid, in some other species - paralyzing poison.

12. Stomach.

13. Eye. Visual acuity in different types different. Some can see objects hundreds of meters away, others are almost blind.

14. Mandibular (jaw) gland. Releases alarm pheromones when attacked by a predator or the appearance of strangers.

15. Spur on the leg for cleaning the antennas.

16. Claws. There are two of them on each leg, between them a pad that secretes a sticky liquid that allows the ant to walk on smooth or sloping surfaces.

17. Antennas through which the ant receives information about smell, taste, chemical composition, the texture of various objects and exchanges it with fellows.

18. Postpharyngeal (pharyngeal) gland. Here fats are produced and stored for feeding the larvae.

19. Chewed. Serve for gripping and chewing food, as well as a weapon.

See the issue on the same topic

On this score, there is an excellent quote from Lewis Thomas: “Ants are so much like us humans that it’s even somehow embarrassing. They grow mushrooms, raise aphids as milking cows, send armies of soldiers to war, spray chemicals to frighten and confuse opponents, take prisoners prisoners, exploit child labor, and exchange information incessantly. In short, they do everything - except that they don't watch TV. "

This only seemingly anthill is a bunch of branches and needles, inside it is a real "ant city".

Ants are almost like humans. There is an initial set of qualities: aggressiveness, intelligence, enterprise, speed of reactions, the ability to interact with others. Depending on them, each ant receives its own profession.

The queen of ants is the uterus - a sexually mature female. The queen is able to establish a new anthill. To do this, she pulls out a small underground corridor, where she subsequently lays eggs.

Ants have a specialty - a guard. It is received by those individuals who show aggressiveness early. Of course, they also have intelligence, but not so developed: it is not so important for soldiers to reason - they should rush to defend common resources without undue hesitation.

Another profession is honeydew pickers. In a sense, ants have their own pets. Aphids feed on plant sap and secrete drops of a sweetish liquid called honeydew. Mutually beneficial cooperation has been established between ants and aphids. Ants collect honeydew - for them it is tasty and nutritious food, the main source of carbohydrates. And as a return service, they protect their green cows from predators.

There is also a division of labor among honeydew pickers. You can, of course, single-handedly get the coveted drop of sweet liquid and drag it into the anthill yourself. But this is not rational from the point of view of logistics.

Therefore, there are ants who work as shepherds (or milkers): they tickle aphids, ensuring high milk yield. And the resulting products are transported by others.

Ants carefully monitor the condition of their home. An anthill of medium size consists of 4–6 million needles and twigs. Every day, hundreds of building ants carry them from above to the depths of the anthill, and from the lower floors to the top.

This ensures a stable humidity regime for the nest, and therefore the dome of the anthill remains dry after rain, does not rot or mold.

The nest also has its own hospitals where doctors, for example, surgeons, work. And in the event that someone of their inhabitants has injured a limb, that is, an arm or a leg, the surgeons amputate it (gnaw it off).

Also, there are surely “keepers” of nectar in the ant family. They are needed in that unforeseen case, if there is a famine in the anthill and the worker ants can no longer get food.

Slavery is widespread in some species. Ants attack someone else's anthill and steal pupae. Then grown up in a strange anthill, the captives work for his good.

Anthill cutaway

1. Covering of needles and twigs. Protects the home from the vicissitudes of the weather, is repaired and renewed by worker ants.

2. "Solarium" - a chamber heated by the rays of the sun. In the spring, the inhabitants come here to warm up.

3. One of the entrances. Guarded by soldiers. Serves as a ventilation duct.

4 ... "Cemetery". This is where the worker ants carry dead fellows and garbage.

5. Winter chamber. Insects congregate here to survive the half-hibernation cold.

6. "Bread barn". This is where the ants store the grains.

7. The royal chamber, where the uterus lives, which lays up to one and a half thousand eggs a day. Working ants look after her.

8. Chambers with eggs, larvae, and pupae.

9. "Cowshed" where ants contain aphids.

10. "Meat pantry" where foragers bring caterpillars and other prey.

Another thing is surprising: in the ant family, there is no "brain center" that would control the general efforts to achieve the desired result, be it repairing an anthill, obtaining food or protecting against enemies. Moreover, the anatomy of an individual ant - scout, worker, or queen ant - does not allow placing this "brain center" in a separate ant.

Its physical size is too small nervous system, and the amount of programs and data accumulated by generations is too large, necessary for the management of the vital activity of the anthill.

At first glance, an anthill seems like a messy heap of branches, pine needles, grass and earth. However, in reality, a real city lives its own life inside this unsightly heap. Here everyone knows his place, everything is subject to a strict schedule. These tiny insects that do not have highly developed intelligence, but ants that create an anthill, nevertheless quickly capture any suitable territory and form numerous colonies. Let's figure out how an anthill works?

Article structure

How does an anthill work inside, what is its structure?

Diagram of the structure of the anthill in section with the designation of functional chambers. Ant colony structure.

Most often there are dome-shaped anthills, but sometimes ants prefer to settle in rotten tree trunks, large old stumps. In regions with extremely hot climates (for example, deserts), insects build their homes exclusively underground.

From the inside, the anthill looks different, but the structure of the allocation and organization of specialized chambers is characteristic of any nesting place of ants.

Indoor cameras can be divided into the following categories:

« solarium»- a small chamber under the very dome of the anthill, insects bask in it in the warm season;
« wintering chamber»- located below the soil level, in it the ants survive the cold, plunging into suspended animation;
"Royal chamber" or " queen's room»- the uterus is located here, which is engaged in laying eggs;
"Grain barn" or " granary»- intended for storage of seeds of herbs and trees;
"kindergarten" or " nursery"- chambers in which eggs ripen and ant larvae are born;
"Meat pantry" or " refrigerator"- the corpses of insects, worms and caterpillars are stored in them.
"Cowshed"- where ants keep and grow aphids.
« cemetery"Is the place where waste and deceased individuals are located. It is significantly removed from the anthill, since the ants understand that corpses and waste are a source of disease and infection;

Each mature insect has a clear idea of the location of the chambers. The enlargement of the anthill leads to the expansion of the existing chambers and the construction of new premises.

The depth of an anthill underground can reach up to 2 meters and has an organized complex structure. And the above-ground part can be from 30 cm to 2 m high. All this looks like a huge city.

The depth and structure of an ordinary anthill is amazing. The interior of this amazing structure consists of large fragments of branches. Between them are many galleries leading to individual chambers, which is a rather complex device.

The height of the structure varies from 30 cm to 2 m, underground part most often exceeds the ground area. The outer covering consists of small twigs, needles, grains of sand and reliably protects ants from moisture, wind and cold. The structure of the underground anthill of the garden ant is similar to the forest ant, but on the surface it is only a small sandy mound.

Here are a few photos of what a large forest anthill looks like:

The underground part, as a rule, is comparable, and more often exceeds the above-ground part in size. In places where there are large reserves of resources for ants (water, grasses, insects of other species), dwellings can reach gigantic proportions. In some cases, the population of a colony can exceed, imagine, 1.5 million individuals.

The anthill is arranged in an interesting way: up to a third of the working ants continuously move the needles and branches! Why are they doing this?

The anthill is arranged in such a way that a positive temperature (26-29 degrees Celsius) is constantly maintained inside, which is very important for ants. For this purpose, the needles and branches from the lower layer of the coating are transferred to the surface, ventilated and dried. This process is continuous, with about a third of the worker ants participating in it. Thanks to their efforts, favorable conditions are created for the development of larvae and the preservation of food reserves.

How does an ant colony work?

The social hierarchy within an ant colony is often compared to the construction of a bee hive. These two species are similar in many ways, but the behavior of ants is still much more complex. As in human society, these insects have a strict division into classes. The anthill is designed so that each sexually mature individual has its own purpose.

Depending on the set of certain qualities, each insect is assigned to a particular social post. In this case, the personal qualities of the individual are taken into account - excessive aggressiveness, a keen sense of smell, reaction speed. The hierarchy of any anthill contains the following categories of individuals:

invaders- the most aggressive group in the anthill, carrying out attacks on neighboring colonies, seizing territories;
orderlies- isolate sick and wounded ants, if necessary, play the role of surgeons - the injured limb is often amputated (gnawed off);
builders- one of the largest social groups... They are engaged in the repair of premises, the outer covering of the dwelling. Throughout their lives, they dig new tunnels, transfer needles and twigs, maintain a microclimate inside the anthill;
nannies- take care of the offspring, from the appearance of the egg to the maturation of the individual. They are constantly next to the larvae, turn over, control the process of hatching from eggs and feed the growing offspring;
the guards- are engaged in the protection of the entrances and exits of the anthill, in case of an attack, they attack the enemy and do not allow him to get inside the dwelling. Among this category there are the most casualties; attacks on neighbors are a common thing for neighboring colonies. In addition, birds and some animals love to feast on ants, and the guards never leave their posts, protecting the entrance to the last.
foragers... The largest group in the colony. Their mission is to obtain food for the entire anthill. Every day, hunters go in search of food - grass seeds, dead and weakened insects, fruits and berries. If one ant finds a large insect (caterpillar, beetle), then with the help of special signals it contacts its fellow tribesmen, "telling" about the prey. Together, insects can drag even a dead rodent. Often there are attacks on weakened or injured bees, worms, mice. From numerous bites, the victim dies and becomes food for the colony;
shepherds... Another amazing feature of these insects is that they have peculiar pets. The herb aphid feeds on plants, and the liquid released in the process - honeydew - is collected by ants. This liquid is a waste product of aphids, has a sweetish taste and serves as a kind of delicacy for insects. The carbohydrates in honeydew provide energy to the ants. Therefore, aphids are collected in a kind of "herd" and protected in every possible way (for example, from theft by ants from neighboring colonies). To increase the amount of honeydew, shepherds tickle the belly of their cows, stimulating the production of a valuable substance;
carriers- work together with the shepherds, their main task is to carry the honeydew into special chambers. If necessary, engage in battle with the invaders;
storekeepers- are responsible for keeping stocks inside the chambers. Keeping track of maintenance temperature regime and the safety of stocks. It is on them that the life of the colony depends in the winter months, since the competent preservation of food resources ensures the prosperity of the anthill;

Depending on the habitat, special "professions" appear. For example, leaf-cutting ants that live in forests collect the leaves of certain trees and plants. Then they are transferred to the anthill, twisted in a special way and used to grow mushrooms, which are one of the main products in their diet.

An interesting fact: in some species, the profession is predetermined genetically, which is reflected in the structure of the ant's body. And in other species, the profession is acquired by individuals gradually and they are able to replace each other's functions if necessary.

The life of ants in an anthill

Each ant colony, regardless of the species, has one or more queens. It is a large, mature specimen, characterized by large transparent wings. They are necessary to search for males, immediately after successful fertilization, the need for them disappears and they disappear.

The fertilized queen lays her eggs in the lowest and most extensive chamber of the anthill, deep underground. And the size of an anthill underground can reach up to two meters! This is necessary to protect the offspring from predators, temperature changes and other hazards.

The queen's lifestyle is different for each species. So, wild forest ants have several hundred young unfertilized females in the colony. After mating, females lay clutches throughout the forest, new colonies are formed next to them.

Ants of a colony located in the vicinity of a person always have several dozen male drones in their composition. The overwhelming majority of the population consists of underdeveloped females. In a small colony there is only one queen-queen, carrying out the procreation.

If the conditions in the house or apartment are favorable (heat, dampness, unsanitary conditions), then the number of ants increases rapidly. In this case, several new queen bees appear that are capable of reproduction, which enhances the possibilities for the development of the colony. These females do not form new colonies, but remain in the existing one. Of course, as the number of queens increases, the spread of ants around the house accelerates.

Relationship and communication of ants

Among these small insects, there is also a kind of power struggle. For example, in colonies of red ants, cases of the capture of settlements of another species were observed. The queen-queen finds a colony of black or forest relatives weakened as a result of the attack and takes the place of the dead queen. Then she lays eggs, and when red ants hatch from them, they actually enslave a colony of another species.

The opposite situation also takes place. During the attack of one anthill on another, soldiers steal the eggs of opponents and carry them away. After the hatched insects become servants and work all their lives for the benefit of a foreign colony. The life of many varieties of tropical ants is built on this principle: for example, the Amazon ants are exclusively engaged in attacking neighbors and capturing larvae, all the hard work inside their dwellings and ensuring livelihoods occurs only at the expense of slaves.

In nature, the opposite situation can also be observed, when workers from neighboring anthills establish contact and exchange food. This is a kind of message to neighbors about peace and a proposal for unification into one colony.

This is how interestingly the anthill is arranged - this is an amazing structure with a complex organization, reminiscent of a big city. How much time and labor does this tiny insect cost to rebuild an ant colony, the aerial part of which is threatened at every moment by predators or natural phenomena.

An anthill is not the best neighborhood

Of course, forest ants bring invaluable benefits - the destruction of carrion, the maintenance of the population of birds and small animals. It is categorically impossible to destroy the homes of forest orderlies, but it is unacceptable to endure the neighborhood in your own house or apartment. That is why at the first signs of the appearance of these insects in or near the house, measures must be taken - getting rid of trash, using folk methods of struggle. If the moment is missed and the colony has reached an impressive size, the best solution would be to turn to specialists.

Life in an anthill - video

Software content:

To acquaint children with the way of life of the ant and the structure of the anthill.
Develop thinking.
Cultivate curiosity, interest in insects, the desire to learn something new about them.

Equipment:

Pictures depicting an ant, anthill, eggs, larvae, pupae.
Paper-cut silhouette of an ant (length 33 cm).

Ant

Anthill scheme

Course of the lesson:

Guys, today we will start our lesson with a quiz.

Didactic game "Most-most"

The most cunning beast is ... (fox).
The most cowardly beast is ... (hare).
The biggest lover of honey is a forest animal ... (bear).
The longest neck of ... (giraffe).
The smallest bird is ... (hummingbird).
The largest eggs are laid ... (ostrich).
The most humpbacked desert dwellers are ... (camels).
The smallest horse is ... (pony).
The fastest beast is ... (cheetah).
The smartest animals are ... (monkeys).
The longest-living animal is ... (turtle).

Guys, do you know who is the strongest on earth?
No, not an elephant, not a hippo. The strongest on earth is an ant! After all, he can carry weights 10 times heavier than his own weight.

If we imagine that Vanya (the child is called) is an ant, then he will be able to carry 10 children on him. (10 people are called). Will our Vanya be able to lift and carry all these guys? No. And an ant can carry a load 10 times heavier than itself. The ant, although small, is a real strongman.

Anthill device

And ants are great builders. What lovely anthill houses they are building! An anthill is a multi-storey building with many apartments, warm, cozy, with good ventilation, with storage rooms, with bedrooms, with children's rooms, with a garbage bin and a toilet. Ants keep their homes perfectly clean.

All inputs and outputs skip Fresh air deep into the anthill. All of these entrances and exits are guarded by soldier ants.

From above, the ants make a covering of needles and twigs on the anthill. It protects the home from the vicissitudes of the weather, is repaired and renewed by worker ants.

There is a room under this covering that is well warmed up by the sun's rays. Ants run there to warm up in the spring.

There is a cemetery room where worker ants carry their dead fellows and garbage.

There is a special winter bedroom. Adult ants in cramped quarters, but not offended, spend the winter in this room. They close all the entrances and exits in the anthill, huddle together in the winter bedroom and fall asleep.

The ants store grain in the grain warehouse.

Ants bring caterpillars and other prey to the meat store.

There is a special barn. Of course, not real cows live in it, but aphids. Aphids are also an insect that, to the delight of the ants, secretes a sweet substance. The ants really like it, so they protect the aphids from pests, carry the females to the anthills for the winter, and in the spring they transfer the aphids to the juicy young shoots. Just as humans breed and care for cows, so ants take care of aphids.

The queen ant queen lives in the royal chambers. Every day she lays a huge number of eggs (up to 1500). Working ants look after her.

There are children's rooms in the anthill with eggs, larvae and pupae. After all, each insect, before becoming an adult, is first an egg, then a larva, then a pupa. And only after that - for adults. (Showing cards of a monk with an image of an egg, a larva, a pupa and an adult ant).

Didactic exercise "Arrange pictures in order"

The teacher shuffles the pictures and invites the children to put them in sequence. You can invite four children to pick up pictures and line up in the right order.

Dynamic pause and visual gymnastics "Ants"

Children find with their eyes a picture corresponding to the text. Pictures are located in the corners of the room under the ceiling.

The uterus laid eggs in the anthill,
Their relatives immediately surrounded them with care.

Ants wait with hope in every nook and cranny
That the ant larvae will turn into pupae.

Here from his chrysalis
A new ant came out.

Children are divided into "ants" and "anthill". Anthill: Children join hands and form a circle. Children-"ants" go into a circle. At the signal “morning”, the “anthill” children raise their hands up, and the “ant” children leave the circle and go to work; at the signal "it is getting dark" the children-"anthill" slowly lower their hands, children-"ants" hurry to get into the circle before the signal "night", when the children-"anthill" put their hands down.

The life of ants

Questions about the content of the lesson:

1. Why are ants considered the strongest?
2. What is an anthill?
3. How does an anthill work? What "premises" are there?
4. Why do ants care about aphids?
5. How are ants born?
6. Who is the most important in the ant family? What does she do?
7. Why do ants need antennae?
8. Why don't ants fall when they walk on smooth and vertical surfaces?
9. What do ants eat?
10. Name the enemies of the ants.
11. Why are ants called “orderlies of the forest”?

There is a great quote from Lewis Thomas on this point: “Ants are so much like us humans that it's kind of embarrassing. They grow mushrooms, raise aphids as milking cows, send armies of soldiers to war, spray chemicals to frighten and confuse opponents, take prisoners prisoners, exploit child labor, and exchange information incessantly. In short, they do everything - except that they don't watch TV. "

This only seemingly anthill is a bunch of branches and needles, inside it is a real "ant city".

The queen of ants is the uterus - a sexually mature female. The queen is able to establish a new anthill. To do this, she pulls out a small underground corridor, where she subsequently lays eggs.

Therefore, there are ants who work as shepherds (or milkers): they tickle aphids, ensuring high milk yield. And the resulting products are transported by others.

This ensures a stable humidity regime for the nest, and therefore the dome of the anthill remains dry after rain, does not rot or mold.

Also, there are surely “keepers” of nectar in the ant family. They are needed in that unforeseen case, if there is a famine in the anthill and the worker ants can no longer get food.

Slavery is widespread in some species. Ants attack someone else's anthill and steal pupae. Then grown up in a strange anthill, the captives work for his good.

Anthill cutaway

01. Covering of needles and twigs. Protects the home from the vicissitudes of the weather, is repaired and renewed by worker ants.

02. "Solarium" - a chamber heated by the rays of the sun. In the spring, the inhabitants come here to warm up.

03. One of the entrances. Guarded by soldiers. Serves as a ventilation duct.

04. "Cemetery". This is where the worker ants carry dead fellows and garbage.

05. Winter chamber. Insects congregate here to survive the half-hibernation cold.

06. "Bread barn". This is where the ants store the grains.

07. The Tsar's chamber, where the uterus lives, which lays up to one and a half thousand eggs a day. Working ants look after her.

08. Chambers with eggs, larvae and pupae.

09. "Cowshed" where ants contain aphids.

10. "Meat pantry", where foragers bring caterpillars and other prey.

The physical size of its nervous system is too small, and the amount of programs and data accumulated by generations is too large, necessary to control the vital activity of the anthill.

List of sources.

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