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Ant nests" are the physical spaces in which the ants live. These can be underground, in trees, under rocks, or even inside a single acorn. [6] The name "anthill" (or "ant hill") applies to aboveground nests where the workers pile sand or soil outside the entrance, forming a large mound. [10]
Plerergates can live anywhere in the nest, but in the wild, they are found deep underground, unable to move, swollen to the size of grapes. [7] In Camponotus inflatus in Australia, repletes formed 49% (516 ants) of a colony of 1063 ants, and 46% (1835 ants) of a colony of 4019 ants. The smaller colony contained six wingless queens.
The use of the term "agriculture", which may not be entirely appropriate for mutualistic relationships—particularly in cases where a colony is hosted by a plant, such as a tree, in exchange for protection and aid in its survival and growth—is well documented in the scientific literature for processes where ants create crops and directly cultivate plants or fungi.
Most organisms forage, hunt, or use photosynthesis to get food, but around 50 million years ago — long before humans were around — ants began cultivating and growing their own food.
Termites live in colonies and are sometimes called "white ants", but termites are only distantly related to ants. They are the sub-order Isoptera, and together with cockroaches, they form the order Blattodea. Blattodeans are related to mantids, crickets, and other winged insects that do not undergo complete metamorphosis.
Higher attines, in contrast, live in colonies made of 5–10 million ants that live and work within hundreds of interconnected fungus-bearing chambers in huge subterranean nests. [ 2 ] [ 33 ] Some colonies are so large, they can be seen from satellite photos , measuring up to 600 m 3 (21,000 cu ft).
Ants come inside homes in search of three basic things: food, water and nesting habitat. Food is the No. 1 reason, and many species of ants love protein, sweets and grease.
Weaver ants or green ants are eusocial insects of the Hymenoptera family Formicidae belonging to the tribe Oecophyllini. Weaver ants live in trees (they are obligately arboreal ) and are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk . [ 3 ]