Ant Farm

Ant farms have come a long way since I was a kid. My friends gave me this cool ant farm for Christmas. Instead of dirt, it's filled with a gel developed by NASA to study how ants tunnel in space. The gel contains the nutrients for the ants, and unlike dirt, the tunnels don't collapse in micro-gravity.

My ants arrived in a plastic vial in the mail a few weeks later. I ordered harvester ants because they have large mandibles, good for tunneling. According to the pamphlet, my ants are all females. Males are produced by the queen for the sole function of mating, and they die shortly after performing this function. The females are quite industrious. Mine created the intricate set of tunnels, seen above, within five days after arriving. 

I was so fascinated by my new pets that I decided to read a bit more about ants. Here are some interesting things I learned. The species of ants I have typically collect grains to eat in the wild. Hence they are called harvester ants. Leaf cutter ants cultivate fungus in their nests for food, and they cut up bits of leaves for fertilizer. Another species farms aphids. The ants carry their aphids to nearby plants in the morning. The aphids feed on the plant's juices while the ants guard and clean them. At dusk, the ants carry the aphids back to the colony where the aphids then produce a sugary substance on their abdomen. This is ingested by the ants as a nutritious food source. There are also slave holding ants that raid other nests. They take captives back to their own colony where they are forced to do work. Fascinating!