Hailing from the family Formicidae, the ant species is related to bees and wasps.Ants are known to have evolved from vespoid wasps in the ancestral ages. There are about 22,000 species of ants and these tiny animals differ on the basis of their shape, body weight, size, antenna and other physical features.Various ants belonging to different categories can be distinguished on the basis of the geniculate antenna and nodes on their waists. Ants are known to live in colonies composed of many ants living in a particular area. Each colony has workers, sterile ants, fertile males known as drones, and fertile females known as queen ants. Each ant in a colony works with other ants to maintain coordination and proper functioning of their colony. While most animals or insects can be found in particular ecosystems, ants, on the other hand, have bodies developed in such a way that they can almost be found in every ecosystem and are known to survive almost everywhere except in extremely cold Antarctic regions. The ant species contributes a lot to the ecosystem and acts as a natural pest control agent. In ant colonies, there is always a division of labor. Did you know that ants have two stomachs? For more interesting animal facts, do check out ant facts, and do cats get ticks.What do ants have instead of lungs to breathe?An interesting question about ants is whether they have lungs or not. Well, they don’t. Their respiratory system differs from that of humans. Wonder how these insects breathe then? The ant species has a special feature called spiracles spread all throughout their body which helps them in breathing.The size of an Asian weaver ant is very small and like many other insects, its body is too small to accommodate a pair of lungs like humans. As a result, ants have an alternate feature that helps them to breathe. Ants have around 10 pairs of minute openings called spiracles spread all throughout their body. These spiracles are connected to a series of tubes called tracheae. Thus the entire system is quite similar to our lungs but differs in the fact that in the body of insects oxygen is not transferred through blood but with the help of the trachea instead. The trachea is connected to the membrane of cells. In the case of larger animals, this system won’t work because the trachea won’t be able to transfer oxygen. This process ensures a sufficient amount of oxygen to flow through the trachea and thus helps in maintaining oxygen levels in the body of these tiny creatures.How do ants drown if they don’t have lungs?Just like cockroaches, ants don’t drown easily underwater. In fact, ants can survive underwater for as long as 24 hours.The respiratory system of ants is different from that of humans and other large creatures. They don’t have lungs. Their small bodies can’t accommodate the complex system of lungs. They breathe in through spiracles spread throughout their body. These spiracles are minute openings that are connected to the trachea that help in regulating oxygen. If you are thinking of water as an option to get rid of ants then it’s certainly a bad idea.Ants can survive underwater for a long time and cannot be drowned easily. When the water level rises ants can easily close their spiracles to stop water from entering their body. This prevents them from drowning. But, at the same time, closing their spiracles means stopping the flow of oxygen inside the body. Thus, ants can stay like this for about 24 hours until a deficiency of oxygen causes them to die.When ants are caught in a flood, they might float motionless and appear to be dead but they aren’t. They wait for the water level to drop so that they can open their spiracles and move about again. Ants, like butterflies, undergo metamorphosis from egg to adult ant. In an ant colony, the queen ant plays an important part. She is responsible for laying eggs and can reproduce. The queen ant has an unusual feature, the presence of spermatheca, a pouch near her abdomen where she stores male ants’ sperm which helps her to reproduce new eggs later.Although she might mate a number of times, she might consider storing the sperm in the pouch for further use. Sperm inside the pouch can’t move into the reproductive tract until she decides to open the valve that allows the entry of sperm into the reproductive tract. The sperm fertilizes eggs. The queen can control the sex of its offspring in the manner of fertilizing eggs. A fertilized egg produces wingless females which are more or less sterile and act as workers or produce queens. Unfertilized eggs develop into males whose main purpose is to fertilize a queen ant’s eggs.Do ants breathe oxygen?No, ants don’t breathe in oxygen. They take in oxygen but the only difference is that they don’t inhale oxygen like humans or other mammals do with the help of lungs.Like most other insects, as previously mentioned, ants take in oxygen through spiracles present on their lower abdomen. These spiracles are minute openings that help in regulating oxygen all throughout their bodies. Humans breathe in oxygen but ants don’t. These spiracles allow the flow of sufficient oxygen to help them in their activities. These holes, called spiracles, are connected by tubes that lead to the inner body and allow air to diffuse into cells of the ant’s body helping them to respire. Oxygen diffuses in and carbon dioxide diffuses out following the same procedure. Soapy water kills ants because the lower surface tension blocks spiracles. If there is a sudden drop in the oxygen level of the ant’s body the ant will stand in a manner such that its abdomen is raised high and this helps in exchanging air between the trachea and air outside. This process is called panting and happens when the insect runs out of breath. An interesting fun fact about ants is that they can carry heavy weight. Ants are able to lift items 20 times their own body weight. They can be holding food that is heavier than their body. Ants are farmers and are known to farm other animals.Can ants suffocate?No, ants can’t suffocate as humans do. You might be irritated by the sudden rise in the number of ants in your house. They eat your food and might sting you.You have to keep your favorite food in a place away from the presence of ants. Are you wondering if suffocating ants is the only way to get rid of them? The answer to this is a probable no. Ants cannot be suffocated easily. In humans, you can stop the oxygen flow or if water enters your body you can suffocate and drown. In the case of ants, spiracles present on their lower abdomen are smart enough to take care of this process.Spiracles are pairs of openings that allow oxygen to diffuse in the body of ants. However, in water, ants close their spiracles thus preventing water from entering their body, and so they don’t drown. Although spiracles closing means no oxygen, still ants can survive like that for hours and float on water. The moment you mistake them as dead and decide to throw away the container these ants are in, the water level will drop and ants will reopen their spiracles, and once oxygen starts to flow in they resume their activities.This is why chemicals and water are not clever options to get rid of ants. The best way is to spray soapy water because the surface tension will block their holes preventing oxygen from flowing in. One more interesting feature in ants is that they don’t feel pain. This happens because ants do not have pain receptors like other vertebrates do. As scientists explain, the lack of pain receptors prevents them from feeling pain. However, they can sense some irritation or uneasiness when you try to harm them.Even though ants have a central nervous system that helps them in perceiving the environment, when a certain part of an ant’s body is hurt only a certain ganglia registers it and not all. Thus, they experience it as a disturbance. Now, pain is a term which itself is quite complex. No one can estimate the intensity of pain in any organism apart from the organism or person experiencing the pain. Thus, it would be wrong to say that ants do not feel pain. Pain is something they too feel when they are crushed or are exploited but perhaps the method of perceiving or sensing this pain is different.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for do ants have lungs then take a look at do bears eat honey or is a caterpillar an insect.
Hailing from the family Formicidae, the ant species is related to bees and wasps.
