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In addition to invading picnics in the park, ants stage full-on conflicts with other ant colonies. Take the aptly named army ants — a term that applies to around 150 distinct species — which are among the many ant species, along with leafcutter ants (Atta cephalotes) and marauder ants (Carebara diversa), that fight each other for the purpose of territory or resource control. Research has shown those battles share striking similarities to human skirmishes, with ants relying on a combination of force, strategy, and chemical warfare to achieve victory.
Army ants have been observed advancing in tight phalanx formations that overwhelm opposing colonies with their sheer size. Some colonies send smaller numbers of scouts beforehand in search of food; those scouts then return to assemble a fighting force. Some species, such as the Matabele ant (Megaponera analis), even have some ants who essentially act like wartime medics, carrying injured ants away from the fight and tending to their wounds.
Oops, incorrect!
It's a factFemale ants capable of reproduction, aka queen ants, are capable of living up to 30 years. This is as much as 500 times longer than the lifespan of male ants and roughly 10 times longer than that of nonreproductive female worker ants.
There’s also evidence of ants strategically deploying “weaponry” in battles with other ant colonies. For example, the Raspberry crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva) secretes a substance that neutralizes fire ant venom, while door ants (of the genus Colobopsis) explode when threatened and spew toxins on enemies.
Other species, such as the aforementioned leafcutter ants (Atta cephalotes), craft armor from magnesium calcite that helps them withstand oncoming attacks. Many ants also instinctively know when it’s time to retreat and fight another day, displaying an unwillingness to fight to the death in a losing situation — unless it’s for the purpose of defending their nest.
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The oldest ant fossil, discovered in Brazil, is ______ years old.
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The oldest ant fossil, discovered in Brazil, is 13 million years old.
A bullet ant’s sting is ranked among the most painful in the world.
The Schmidt sting pain index, created by entomologist Justin O. Schmidt, is a ranking of the most excruciatingly painful insect stings. Pain level one includes the sting of red, tropical, and southern fire ants, which Schmidt equated to being shocked by a light switch, as well as the sting of the sweet bee (family Halictidae). At the highest end of the spectrum is the bullet ant (Paraponera clavata), which is the only ranked insect to hold a notorious four-plus pain rating.
Schmidt described the sting in his 2016 book The Sting of the Wild as “like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel.” Unlike other ant venom, which is commonly delivered by bite, a bullet ant delivers its venom using a wasplike stinger. While the sting isn’t fatal, it can lead to intense pain, muscle paralysis, and hallucinations that can last for up to 24 hours.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Inbox Studio, and previously contributed to television programs such as "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Impractical Jokers." Bennett is also a devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
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