Ants are among the most numerous types of insects in the world, with over 12,000 species known so far and counting!
The number of ant species out there can’t be pinpointed because it changes every time researchers find another new species. So how many types of ants are there in total?
Where do they live? What are their habitats like? And what kind of characteristics set them apart from one another? Let’s look at some interesting facts about ants…
How Many Species Are There of Ants?
How many types of ants are there? There are approximately 12,000 species of ants in the world.
The number of species varies depending on where you are looking for them and how many individuals you find to make a count.
For example, more ant species exist in the Amazon than anywhere else.
However, no matter how many there may be, all ants share some characteristics.
The most significant difference between types of ants is their size.
Some ants have been seen crawling at the bottom of your garden while others tower over your head at twelve inches tall!
Ants can be found everywhere, from deserts to rainforests around the world! They may live in large colonies or solitary lives without interacting with others as they do within territories.
Ants usually feed themselves on sugary foods and anything that smells good, such as insects or decaying flesh.
Certain types of ants lay eggs while other ants give birth to live young. However, only some types of ants may be known because there are so many to explore!
What Is the Most Common Type?
The most common type is the black garden ant, also known as the Argentine ant. This species can be found worldwide, including in North America, South America, and Asia. The ants are no bigger than a grain of rice, and their color ranges from dark brown to black.
Other types of ants you might see include pavement and red ants. Pavement ants have a reddish-brown color with a dark head and thorax, while red ants are either reddish-orange or entirely dark red. You may also find other types of ants, such as fire ants and Asian needle ants.
Fire ants live in colonies near rivers and other wet areas, while Asian needle ants usually live on trees. Neither of these types of ants typically enters houses.
Facts about how many types of ants are there: An average colony has tens of thousands of workers and one queen. The number varies depending on what kind of ant it is; for example, there could be anywhere from a few dozen to several thousand workers for an individual black garden ant colony.
Characteristics of Ants
Ants live all around the world, but there are only about 12,000 different types of ants. Ants can vary in size from one millimeter to 30 millimeters long and vary in color from yellow to black. Ants have three body parts and six legs.
Ants have antennae that they use to sense the environment around them. Ants also have a segmented abdomen with an exoskeleton of chitin and protein (like human hair and fingernails). The exoskeleton protects the ants’ internal organs.
Some ants are venomous, which means that their stinger is poisonous and can be used for defense or attacking prey. Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera, which includes bees, wasps, and sawflies.
How many types of ants are there? More than 20,000 species of ants have been classified. Ants have other common characteristics: elbowed antennae, mandibles for chewing food, a head capsule on top of their thorax, and six legs.
Life cycle
The life cycle of ants starts with an egg. The eggs hatch into larvae that eat and grow until they become pupae. Adult ants are born from the pupae and start the cycle again.
Each ant colony contains one queen who lays eggs to feed the colony. In some species, males mate with the queen to produce new eggs for the territory. Other queens can reproduce asexually by laying unfertilized eggs.
Ant colonies can have more than one queen, and when this happens, it is called polygyny. Some species may have more than one male within the same territory. When there is more than one female in a nest, it’s called polyandry.
Ant colonies usually range in size between 2,000-20,000 individuals, and each worker ant usually lives around three months long, while queens can live up to 30 years!
One type of ant called crazy ants was first found in Texas, but they have since spread all over the United States. They’re so named because their erratic movements make them seem crazy and out of control.
Diet
The diet of a particular ant species depends on the type, as some ants prefer sweet foods, while others are more attracted to protein.
Some ants can also digest grains and other plants, an unusual trait for insects. These ants tend to live in dry areas because they need these environments’ resources.
For example, some desert ants survive by eating mostly nectar from cacti flowers or seeds from certain grasses.
Other ants eat almost anything, including dead animals, fungi, and decaying matter such as animal droppings or carrion. One of the most common examples is the house, which feeds on any food it can find inside your home.
These ants often invade kitchens and contaminate food with their waste products. House ants feed on many things like fruit, sweets, grease and fats, honeydew (a sugary liquid secreted by aphids), watermelon rinds, milk powder, and cereals.
What Is the Most Vital Type of Ant?
The most vital types of ants are the carpenter and Asian ants. The carpenter ants are robust as they can break down wood to make their nests and have an enormous jaw that can rip through small pieces of wood.
The Asian ants are also strong, but not as strong as the carpenters because they don’t eat solid foods.
Instead, these ants live on liquids like honeydew from insects and insects. The best type of ant is the Carpenter ant because it can break down wood for its nest and has a stronger jaw than any other ant.
The weakest is the Asians because they don’t eat solid food; instead, they survive off liquids like honeydew from Aphids or other insects.
If you want a more straightforward job when working around your home, consider hiring an exterminator to eliminate the ants in your house.
They should be able to identify what type of ant you’re dealing with and offer a treatment plan for your specific needs.
Types of Ants: How to Identify Them?
How many types of ants are there? Types of ants vary in size and appearance, but you can identify most of them by the following features:
- Head – Ants have a small head attached to the front of their thorax, with two antennae attached to the head.
- Wings – Ants’ wings will be on either side of their thorax.
- Legs – Ants’ legs will vary in number depending on the type of ant and how many pairs they have.
- Body/Thorax – The thorax is where an ant’s six legs are attached and has three main body segments: the head, chest, and abdomen.
- Abdomen – The ant’s abdomens will vary in color and thickness depending on the type of ant.
- Color – Some ants may have different colored exoskeletons, while others might not.
- Spots or markings may differ from one species to another, so looking for these may help you determine which specific species it belongs to!
- Size – Types of ants range from tiny (1mm) to large (3cm).
As such, some can live in really tight spaces, and others can live outdoors. Behavior – One thing to note about how many types of ants there are is how their behavior varies.
For example, some are aggressive, while others prefer only defending themselves if necessary. Reproduction – Ants reproduce through males transferring sperm from the male gonopore into a female’s gonopore near her hind leg or waist area.
1. Red Imported Fire Ants
Red Imported Fire Ants are tiny, reddish-brown ants that live in colonies. They can attack animals and humans without warning, injecting a painful sting with their powerful jaws.
How many types of ants are there? These ants typically build their nests underground near moist soil or under debris and detritus.
They have the name Red Imported Fire Ants because these ants were first discovered in the United States around Mobile, Alabama, by a port cargo inspector who noted them for importation on a ship from South America in 1934.
They will eat almost anything and reproduce rapidly, making them dangerous pests. When not attacking other animals, red imported fire ants feed primarily on seeds, fruit, flowers, and honeydew secreted from aphids.
Like most species of ants, they also farm insects such as caterpillars and use them to supplement their diet when food sources are scarce. Regarding reproduction, male and female red imported fire ants play an active role in mating rituals.
Males aggressively guard females before mating occurs; afterward, the males die while the females live on to begin new colonies. Queens lay eggs inside a hole cut out from vegetation or subterranean structures like dirt clods.
2. Acrobat Ants
Acrobat ants are one of the more common types in the wild. They’re small and black, with many workers having yellowish-brown antennae.
These ants can be found in homes across America because they’re attracted to sweets like honey and syrup, which is why they’re sometimes called sugar ants.
Acrobats will eat any food they can get their hands on, but they prefer honey. They also enjoy sweet tree sap. Acrobat ants also steal other insects‘ food stores and animals’ eggs, pupae, and larvae.
The worker acrobats are monomorphic (same size) and slightly polymorphic (different sizes), so identifying them is only possible by looking at their thorax shape or mouthparts.
Acrobat ants can reproduce sexually or by fission, meaning that some queens live for a long while others only last for a year. Queens lay 30-400 eggs daily and up to 1,000 monthly.
It takes about five months for an egg to develop into an adult ant. In a group of acrobat ants, all the females are potential queens. After mating, the queen feeds her offspring royal jelly for two weeks until she dies or leaves.
If she dies before laying eggs, there may need to be more fertile females to keep the colony alive. There are five known species of acrobat ants, including Acromyrmex Versicolor, Aphaenogaster rudis, Crematogaster lineolata, Crematogaster striolaqua, and Forelius McCook.
3. Odorous House Ant
How many types of ants are there? There are about 60 species of ants in the United States. The most common species are odorous house ants, which have a dark brown or black color and emit a strong, musty odor when crushed. Common types found in homes include pavement ants and cornfield ants.
You may also find yellow meadow ants and tiny red fire ants living on your property if you live in the southeastern United States.
If you need to know what type of ant is invading your home, call an exterminator who can identify the exact type so they can create the right treatment plan for your property.
And be aware that besides small red fire-ants, these creatures don’t sting; their bites can hurt and lead to infection if they come into contact with broken skin.
House ants love sweets and sugary drinks, especially soda cans left open on the floor. They’ll also feed on pet food, seeds, meats, and bread crumbs left out in kitchens or near food preparation areas.
So it’s essential to keep any such foods in containers when not being used, clean up any spills promptly to avoid attracting more ants, and use sticky traps along counters where food is served to trap the pests before they get close enough to touch food.
4. Carpenter Ants
Carpenter Ants are one of the more common types of ants found in the United States, and they are named for their tendency to chew up wood.
The carpenter ant is a shiny black or brown with a constricted waist and antennae longer than the head and body combined. These ants nest outdoors under logs, stones, and building foundations.
When these ants infest homes or other buildings, chewing on wood can cause extensive damage. They will also eat other insects like roaches or termites that might be living in your home.
Carpenter ants should be distinct from termite ants, which have narrow waists. Call a professional exterminator immediately if you have carpenter ants in your home!
5. Pavement Ants
How many types of ants are there? There are many different types of ants. One that you may see around your home is the pavement ant. The pavement ant is a brownish-black insect that lives in North America.
They get their name because they live in moist, shady areas near homes, sidewalks, and other structures. The pavement ants are omnivores, which means they eat plants and animals.
They also have a reputation for being able to sense human food from a long distance away, making them one of the most common pests found in homes.
Their diet consists mainly of plant material such as aphids, eggs, and honeydew from sap-feeding insects such as aphids and scale insects, small arthropods (spiders), millipedes, and earthworms.
Pavement ants can survive without water because they extract moisture from the soil through their bodies or use droplets of water left on leaves during rainstorms.
Habitat
Ants live in a wide range of habitats, from deserts to rainforests. In the desert, there are usually ants that live underground and those that live near water. In the rainforest, ants live in trees or on the ground.
Some ants are more social than others; for example, some species prefer to work alone, while others enjoy working with other ants to help find food and raise young.
It’s possible to have many different types of ants living together, depending on the kind of habitat they all share.
For example, you might see ants that build mounds in the desert alongside other types of ants that form bridges over streams.
Ants communicate by pheromones (chemical signals) and touch, so it isn’t uncommon for one ant colony to contain members from several different ant subfamilies.
The most common ant subfamilies include the Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, and Lasiini.
Ants are known for their cooperative behavior, so they’re sometimes called superorganisms. Interestingly, some types of ants can taste with their antennae!
Conclusion
How many types of ants are there? There are many types of ants, and it isn’t easy to pinpoint how many. Different species are found worldwide, with some being more common than others.
The black garden ant is the most well-known in North America and Europe. It can also be found in other places worldwide with a temperate climate.
Other examples include the fire ant, which is native to North America but can now be found worldwide because it has been introduced through global trade routes.
Another example is the carpenter ant, which is located in every Earth region except Antarctica.
How many types of ants are there? It’s difficult to tell because different types are found in other regions.
Some regions where ants thrive might only have one class, while others may have 10 or 20. This means there will be far fewer total numbers when you sum up the numbers across each continent rather than within each continent separately.
