Ant

• Some of the more advanced ants are the army ants and driver ants, from South America and Africa respectively. These do not form permanent nests, but instead alternate between nomadic stages and stages where the workers form a temporary nest (bivouac) out of their own bodies. Most ants form stationary colonies, usually dug into the ground or some other hollow. Colonies reproduce either through nuptial flights as described above, or by fission, where a group of workers simply dig a new hole and raise new queens. Colony members are distinguished by smell, and other intruders are usually attacked, with notable exceptions.
• Some ants will raid the colonies of other ants, taking the pupae with them, which once hatched act as workers in the raider's colonies despite not being genetically related to the queen. A few species, such as the Amazon ants (e.g. Polyergus rufescens), have become utterly dependent on such slaves, to the point of being otherwise unable to feed themselves.
• Some ants, called honeypot ants, have special workers called repletes who simply store food for the rest of the colony, generally becoming immobile with greatly enlarged abdomens. In hot , dry places , even deserts , in Africa , North America and Australia where they live they are considered a great delicacy.
• Some ants are responsible for both good and bad. Solenopsis invicta is responsible for both acting as natural predators, especially benefficial to farmers, but can also act as a nuisance.
• Weaver ants (Oecophylla) build nest in trees by attaching leaves together, first pulling them together with bridges of workers and then sewing them together by pressing silk-producing larvae against them in alternation.
• Leafcutter ants (Atta) feed exclusively on a special fungus that lives only within their colonies. They continually collect leaves which they cut into tiny pieces for the fungus to grow on. These ants have several differently sized castes especially for cutting up the pieces they are supplied with into even smaller pieces.
• Carpenter ants feed and damage wood by hollowing it out for nesting. Carpenter ants vary in size and color but are usually large (1/4-1/2 inch) and blackish.

• Aphids, which secrete a sweet liquid called honeydew. Normally this is allowed to fall to the ground, but around ants it is kept for them to collect. The ants in turn keep predators away and will move the aphids around to better feeding locations. Ants reportedly can be persuaded not to protect aphids by smearing a small amount of jam on the stem. (source, BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time of Sun 18-4-2004) It may be that this displaces the farming of honeydew and allows predators to remove the aphids safely.

• Myrmecophilous or ant-loving caterpillars (blues, coppers, or hairstreaks), which are herded by the ants like cattle, led to feeding areas in daytime and brought inside the ants nest at night. The caterpillars have a gland which secretes honeydew if the ants massage them.

• Some myrmecophagous (ant-eating) caterpillars secrete a pheromone which makes the ants think the larva is one of their own. The caterpillars will then be taken into the ants' nest where they can feed on the ant larvae.

• British ants
• Fire ant
• Rare ants of the British Isles
• List of the common names of British ant species
• List of ant genera (alphabetical)
• List of notable myrmecologists
• Myrmecology: the study of ants
• Ant-hill
• Anting (bird activity)
• SimAnt
• Antpower
• Langtons ant for articles concerned with subjects that use the word "ant"

• Myrmecology Portal: Everything about ants
• Ant pictures facts and pictures about ants
• The Ant Farm: A personal Web site on ants and with an Ant Farm theme
• The Ants FAQ
• antweb.org
• Message board on ants
• Antbase, Databases, links, pictures, etc.
• a website devoted to cataloguing and photographing ants
• A good overview of ants, with details about selected species
• Ant control: how to get rid of them
• Bernard Werber, writer