“Go to the ant ... consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, [provides] her meat.” Proverbs 6:6-86Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6‑8)
Last week we learned how weaver ants construct new nests. What is interesting about this is that the colonies of these hard-working ants can spread to many trees, connected by special highways. They can have up to one million inhabitants which are divided into different types. We will learn about three of them today.
Major weaver ants are the workers and guards for a weaver ant colony. They are about 1/3 of an inch long. They look for food, build nests, and explore the territory for expanding the colony. They also do the dangerous job of warfare if another tribe of weaver ants tries to take over their colony. They are also the “farmers” for the mealy bugs, scale insects and aphids, which weaver ants keep for the sweet nectar they produce. Minor weaver ants are about half the size of the majors and have different jobs. They rarely leave the nests and are responsible for taking care of the eggs and young larvae.
There can be multiple queens in a weaver ant society. These live in a nest in the center of the colony where they are safest from attacks by invading enemies. The queens lay hundreds of eggs each day, some of which are used for food by people in some parts of the world. Queens are much larger than the others. Certain workers are assigned to care for them, including licking their bodies to keep them clean and cool, feeding them, and taking care of their eggs.
Weaver ants can produce at least two different kinds of chemicals. One is pheromones which are used for communicating with the other ants in their own colony. They use different pheromones to communicate different things ... to lead to food, to assemble together, as an alarm, for recruiting for warfare, and perhaps others. The other ants always respond to these messages. Their survival depends on all of them cooperating with one another.
The other chemical they use is formic acid which is used on enemies in warfare and to kill prey for food. They are so good at killing insects that they are used as natural insecticide by farmers to protect fruit trees. They can kill creatures much larger than themselves, such as birds and lizards, with their painful bites and acid. If a worker captures an insect too large to carry, it passes the word along by pheromones, asking for help, which promptly comes.
As our opening verse says, all of these activities are done with no one telling them what to do, yet all willingly work together. No wonder we are told to think about these amazing little creatures! It’s good to think about how we get along with others.
Did You Know?
There can be multiple queens in a weaver ant society.
Messages of God’s Love 7/21/2024