Which Flavour Does Ants Are Most Attracted To

TO ANALYSE THE AFFINITY OF ANTS ON DIFFERENT FLAVOURS

NAME - ROHIT SINGH SARROGICLASS – XII AROLL NO. 1232

ANTSAnt, common name for members of a

family of about 11,000 species of insects that live in highly organized societies called colonies .

Ants belong to an order of insects called the Hymenoptera, a group that also includes bees, wasps, and sawflies

PARTS OF ANTS

DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ANTS

BULLDOGS ANTCARPENTER ANTLEMON ANTYELLOW CITRONELLA ANTFIRE ANTARMY ANTSHONEY POT ANTSLEAFCUTTER ANTSWEAVER ANTS

BULLDOGS ANTBull ants or jack-jumpers, are well-known in

Australia for their aggressive behavior and powerful stings. The venom of these ants has approximately a 3% chance to induce anaphylactic shock in their sting victims. Until the introduction of a vaccine the stings could, if gone untreated for only a matter of hours, be lethal. These large, alert ants have characteristic large eyes and long, slender mandibles and they have superior vision, able to track and even follow intruders from a distance of 1 meter

CARPENTER ANTCarpenter ants 1/4 inch (6.4mm) for a

worker up to 3/4 inch (19.1mm) for a queen. Nesting in damp locations, carpenter ants prefer to excavate wood that has been damaged by water. From their nests in the beams, floors or walls, they scavenge the house for food crumbs and insects. Carpenter ants may occur in several colors, although the most important species are black

LEMON ANTMyrmelachista schumanni, also known as

the lemon ant, is a species of ant that is notable for the creation of Devil's gardens. Using its own herbicide they are able to shape its surroundings.

Myrmelachista schumanni, lives in large clearings in the rainforest, called devil's gardens, where all but one species of plant are excluded

YELLOW CITRONELLA ANTBelonging to the Hymenoptera Acanthomyops

Family. The larger yellow ant belongs to the order Hymenoptera, the family Formicidae and the genus Acanthomyops. They are found mostly in New England and the Midwest, but are common coast to coast. These ants are large, ranging from 4 mm to 4.5 mm in length

The larger yellow ants feed exclusively on the secretions of other insects. They harvest the honeydew that is produced by subterranean aphids and mealy bugs.

FIRE ANTThe worker ants are blackish to reddish

and vary from 3–6 mm in length.A typical 'fire ant colony produces large

mounds in open areas, and feeds mostly on young plants and seeds.

Fire ants nest in the soil, often near moist areas, such as river banks, pond edges, watered lawns and highway edges.

ARMY ANTSThere are over 200 known species of army ant,

divided into New World and Old World types. All are members of the true ant family Formicidae.

New World army ants belong to the subfamily Ecitoninae.

The most predominant species of Eciton is Eciton burchelli, whose common name is army ant and which is considered to be the archetypal species.

HONEY POT ANTSBelonging to the Myrmecocystus family,

honeypot ants, also called honey ants, are ants which are gorged with food by workers, to the point that their abdomens swell enormously.

Sometimes raiders from other colonies will attempt to kidnap the resident honeypot ants because of their relatively high nutritional value.

The insects are edible and form an occasional part of the diet of various Australian Aboriginal peoples

LEAF CUTTER ANTMember of the Arthropoda Myrmicinae family.Different species of leafcutter ants use

different species of fungus, but all of the fungi the ants use are members of the Lepiotaceae family. The ants actively cultivate their fungus, feeding it with freshly-cut plant material and maintaining it free from pests and molds.

This symbiotic relationship is further augmented by another symbiotic partner, a bacterium that grows on the ants and secretes chemicals.

WEAVER ANTSWeaver ants (genus Oecophylla) are social

insects belonging to the ant family, known for their communication and nest building behaviour. They belong to the genus Oecophylla. Weaver ants are social insects that have complex bio-chemical communication and make elaborate nests out of living tree-leaves. Weaver ants are found in the tropical forests of Africa and southeast Asia. They are colored a shade of red and are known for their painful, irritating sting.

BIG HEADED ANTBelonging to the Pheidole megacephala Family. They typically feed on live and dead insects,

seeds and the honeydew produced by insects such as aphids and scales. They are considered major predators of fire ant queens, which are present in large numbers after a fire ant swarm.

They often forage indoors for food and water. The ant is yellowish-brown and is 2 mm to 3 mm long. There are two nodes on the petiole, and colonies are polygyne.

GLIDING ANTGliding ants are arboreal ants of several

different genera that are able to control the direction of their descent when falling from a tree in order to land on the trunk before reaching the unfamiliar and potentially hazardous understory.

During a fall, gliding ants use visual cues to locate tree trunks. Specifically, they orient to light-coloured columnar objects that sharply contrast the darker background of foliage in the forest.

MATERIALS

QUANTITY ITEM

200  1 loaf  1  amount n/a amount n/a 25 squares 5 grams 15 grams 15 grams 500 ml

 Ants White Bread Digital Camera Sand Leaves Tin foil { 3cm by

3cm } Sucrose Citric acid Caffeine Deionized water

PROCEDURES

 Sucrose was added to deionized water, to obtain a sweet flavour.

 When mixed with deionized water, Sodium chloride created a salty flavour. 

 Citric acid added to deionized water made a sour flavour.

 When Caffeine was mixed with deionized water, it resulted in a bitter flavour.

Deionized water was the substance that was considered control

RESULTS

The results of the experiment were that the ants were attracted to the sweet flavoured bread square more than any of the other flavours, but on a rare occasion they would visit the sour, bitter, and salty squares.  They also did not visit the control (water) station often, in fact I only observed one ant at this station in the entire experiment.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that the ants would prefer the sweet flavour to the other flavours: sour, bitter, salty, and control.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if the ants would prefer a sweet liquid to a sweet flavoured solid. I also wonder if this same result would occur for other "pest" insects, like termites or cockroaches.

Although ants are sometimes considered a household pest, they are able to perform many necessary functions inside ecosystems. Ants turn soil, move nutrients and organic matter, scatter seeds, serve as food for larger animals, and sometimes pollinate flowers.

The information gained from this experiment can help people with ants living in their homes to uncover natural, effective ant bait. Homeowners with ant problems spend many dollars per year to try do get rid of ants. It would cost consumers much less just to use common, around-the-house substances.

All About Ants [online] available http://www.infowest.com/personal/l/life/aants.htm December 20,1999

Ants [online] available http://www.letsfindout.com/subjects/bug/rficrpna.html  October 19,1999

Ants [online] available http://www.lingolex.com/ants.htm  November 9,1999

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THANK YOUMADE BY – ROHIT

SINGH HOPE THAT YOU LIKE THE PRESENTATION

SOURCE – INTERNET,ENCARTA