The Ant, Taxonomic Family: Formicidae
by Dr. Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis

Ants are fascinating insects even though most people think of them as a nuisance. They are extremely hard workers and live in complex, underground colonies. Alone, a single ant cannot survive but as part of a team, where each ant has a particular job to do, they not only survive but they thrive. Twenty subfamilies compose Family: Formicidae (ITIS, 2006) and as of December, 2008 there have been 12,471 species recorded (Antbase, 2005). Over twice the number of recorded species are believed to exit. Ants thrive throughout the world in all geographic locations except for a few remote islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, Greenland, Iceland and the polar regions. Ants, Family: Formicidae range in size from 0.75 to 52 mm (0.030 to 2.0 in) and vary in color. Most are red or black, green is rare, and some tropical species have a metallic luster (Wikipedia, 2008). Ants are covered with read more

The Flying Ant - A Nuptial Flight!
by Dr. Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis

Many people do not believe there are any such things as flying ants - but there are. Except for a few species, all males and sexually mature, ready-to-mate queens have have wings. Let's look at Carpenter ants, for instance. During late winter and early spring swarms of winged queens and winged males (produced during late summer) emerge from mature colony (satellite) nests for their nuptial flights. If nest locations are indoors, swarming individuals are easily identified, often trapped within the structure. The simultaneous mating flight of all winged sexual's produced from colonies within a specific geographic area is called "Nuptial Flight". This "swarming" is triggered by optimal environmental conditions (warm and humid) and read more