other social media websites im on are like. hawk tuah girl and mr beast are collabing for a festables event. and tumblr is like. here are my top 10 favorite ants
Nobody I saw on the post was making the actual list so I will
10. Fire ant
We all say we hate them but also we all see how fire ants eating anything shoot up in recommendation feeds. Their nature as the bad boy of the ant world gives them a certain allure and their abilities that make them able to spread like they did like swimming and being able to make rafts of themselves nets them at least the bottom spot on my list
9. Yellow Crazy ant
Another very invasive species of ant, these little guys earn a higher spot mostly because they amuse me a bit more both due to the name and how they earned it due to their erratic behavior when disturbed. They have very long legs and antennae as well which is what gives them their survivability. Silly long girls are an easy add
8. Trapjaw ant
Another ant that gets its fame from its offensive adaptations, however unlike the fire ant it is not invasive in many areas (like my own) and it’s one of the few ants that ACTUALLY bite you. Most ants bite you to grab on and the “bite” is them stinging you. That’s why you get bumps on your skin from fire ants they inject a paralytic. But back to our friend the trapjaw. These gals pack crazy jaw force that can even send them flying. Really good for tearing prey apart.
7. Camponotus decipiens
Camponotus decipiens is a personal favorite of mine as a species I’ve raised before. Others may overlook it due to its modest colony size and relatively average dietary habits but truly they represent what so many ant species can be- a common and likely overlooked scavenger that’s vital to the ecosystem
6. Bumblebee ant
Another carpenter ant back to back! Bumblebee ants get their name for an obvious reason, being those very eye-catching black and yellow stripes on all of them. This ant just like the last one is a slow grower and known to be a little laid back compared to other ants. These ants also enjoy fruit flies as a meal
5. Leaf cutter ant
Another famous ant which is well earned. They’re clever and cut up leaves to farm fungi with. They are very good at disposing waste and the mutualism displayed is always amazing to see
4. Weaver ant
Weaver ants are like the cooler cousin of the leaf cutter ant. These ants don’t cut leaves to farm, but rather they build complex arboreal nests in the trees welded by the silk of their larvae. If you can I suggest looking up some pictures or videos of these girls constructing!
3. Pharaoh ant
I know what you may be thinking about this placement; that I must be crazy to put this ant so high up when it’s such a notorious pest! In my defense though I have to admit there may be some bias but it’s an inarguably fascinating specimen due to their nests being polygynous (meaning there’s many queens in their colony)! Polygynous colonies are amazing to observe and make for a long term survival situation for them. their abundance makes this easy to observe, earning this spot.
2. Marauder ant
Were this entirely a list based on coolness, I must say the marauder ant would be number 1! Between their raw strength and vastly varying classes and sizes of workers and MASSIVE super majors they are undeniably awesome. They take down large bugs and even some small animals for food and get their name for how massive their hunts and trails are. They are truly a sight to behold.
1. Honeypot ant
What can I say, i’m a sucker for the cute and gimmicky. The honeypot ant is another carpenter ant that gets its name for the very special repletes found in their species. They’re even the species that comes up if you search the term. While many species have repletes to act as food and water storage the honeypot ant is simply unrivaled in the capacity of these workers. They get their name due to how much they store as well as the fact that they taste like a sweet candy if you were to eat them sometimes, and they are quite popular in some areas because of this. Personally I simply marvel and adore them, but to each their own. If you made it all the way down here thanks. Let me know what you think and where you would place your own favorites
