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It's an ant's life

Tales from the dump
with Walt Humphries
Friday, July 04, 2008

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On a hot summer's day, have you ever sat and watched an ant colony at work, especially while contemplating the meaning of life and the joys of physical labour?

Now, I know that most people consider ants to be pretty small, insignificant and unimportant little insects that they don't think much about, unless a colony has invaded their house or cottage.

However ants really are quite fascinating and the more you learn about them, the more interesting they become.

To start with, one estimate I read said that on average in North America there are 1,000 ants per square metre of land. That is a lot of ants and they far exceed the human population on this planet.

Worldwide there are an estimated 20,000 species of ants that we know about and probably a whole bunch that haven't been discovered or documented yet.

In the North we have several species and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that we have a few that are unique to the far north, the barrens and the Arctic.

In an ant colony there is the queen ant which lays the eggs and then there are worker ants.

Depending on the species and size of the colony there can be several types of workers: Ones that look after the young, ones that maintain and expand the colony, ones that guard the colony and foragers who leave the nest to gather food.

Some ants keep herds of aphids, others grow fungus for food in their colonies, some are vegetarian and gather leaves and plants, others are scavengers collecting dead insects and there are even a few species that are predators or hunters.

The world of ants is a lot more complex and diverse than most people imagine.

Most of the ants in the North appear to be scavengers and I like to think of them as the garbage collectors of the forest floor.

We have the big black ants, which are carpenter ants, and they live in trees, dead wood and old stumps and logs. In the wood they burrow out a nest or maze of passageways and chambers. The ones we see on the ground are only the foragers gathering food to take back to the colony.

Carpenter ants are interesting because if the colony gets big it produces some winged queens and a number of winged males that set out to found new colonies.

If you are near a colony that is doing this you will certainly see the winged ants everywhere and you might see a number of birds feeding on stray ones.

We also have small brown and red ants, which build colonies under rocks or in the soil.

If you pick up a rock or sit too near a colony of red ants, be advised that they will attack and bite. Sometimes you will see a line of ants carrying eggs to a new site as these colonies divide.

It has to be pretty warm for the ants to venture outside and when it is they are busy foraging for food for the entire colony.

They are certainly busy and industrious little critters. I have yet to see them move a rubber tree plant but I have seen them move some mighty large objects compared to their body size. It is amazing that they can survive our long and cold winters.

Bears like to eat ants and if you are in an area where a bear is ripping apart stumps to get at the carpenter ants or turning over rocks to get at the smaller ones, they do seem to enjoy them.

In an odd way the ants remind me of humans. They both have the colony where most live and only a few members venture outside of it to explore and forage for food. Both have territories and often fight with their neighbours.

Next time you are out on a warm summer's day, spend a little time observing the ants, it can be fascinating watching them work. Remember ants clean up litter and so should you.

- Walt Humphries is a well-known Yellowknife artist and prospector