Ant Farms
by Dr. Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis

Ant farms make great educational hobbies, especially for children. Although very tiny and unable to survive on their own, ants work together large family groups called colonies. Because ants are eusocial*, have specialized divisions of labor within the colony and demonstrate effective communication and self-organization, individuals devote their lives and work in unison for the good of the colony. Thus the colony, behaving as a superorganism*, thrives as though it was a single organism of a higher order. Adults and children alike are often curious about what ants do underground, since most ant nests are subterranean and many of their activities take place obscured from view. But with the aid of specially constructed colony containments, called ant farm aquariums, one can study Formicidae behaviors and view their day-to-day subterranean activities with ease. Suitable ant farm aquariums allows read more

The Ant, Taxonomic Family: Formicidae
by Dr. Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis

Ants are fascinating insects even though most people think of them as a nuisance. They are extremely hard workers and live in complex, underground colonies. Alone, a single ant cannot survive but as part of a team, where each ant has a particular job to do, they not only survive but they thrive. Twenty subfamilies compose Family: Formicidae (ITIS, 2006) and as of December, 2008 there have been 12,471 species recorded (Antbase, 2005). Over twice the number of recorded species are believed to exit. Ants thrive throughout the world in all geographic locations except for a few remote islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, Greenland, Iceland and the polar regions. Ants, Family: Formicidae range in size from 0.75 to 52 mm (0.030 to 2.0 in) and vary in color. Most are red or black, green is rare, and some tropical species have a metallic luster (Wikipedia, 2008). Ants are covered with read more