Ants
Ants are (besides the scourge of a summer picnic) a tiny insect from the Formicidae, which are related to bees and wasps. They live in highly organised colonies, with soldiers, wingless females, drones and queens, and when they form in numbers they can called a superorganism due to their ability to behave as one entity. They are famously strong, with some able to carry up to 100 times their body weight.
Can you smell ants?
Expert advice: Don't stick your nose in an ants nest.
What is a honeypot ant?
Bees aren’t the only insects to make honey, some ants can make the sweet treat too.
Sniffer ants can smell cancer better than dogs
Scientists have trained a colony of ants to sniff out cancerous cells with surprising accuracy.
What is a thistledown velvet ant?
Despite the name, this fuzzy insect isn't an ant at all - it's actually a type of wasp.
Relative to body size, Saharan silver ants sprint 20x faster than Usain Bolt
Tiny Tunisian insect runs at speeds of 855mm/s, making it the world’s fastest ant.
Mystery of ‘headhunting’ ants solved
The Formica archboldi ant decorates its nests with the severed heads of the bigger, nastier prey it kills - now we know how.
Why do some ants have wings?
These winged wonders are seen but once a year.
There’s always a bigger fish: Animals named after Star Wars creatures and characters
The Star Wars universe is not just inspiration for young padwans, it also provides rich pickings for biologists needing names for new species.
ESF’s top 10 new species for 2017 revealed
A vibrant katydid, an amphibious centipede, and a marine worm that looks like a churro are among 2017’s top new species.
New ant species named after Radiohead
A new species of ant able to grow fungus as a source for food has been discovered - and will be named in honour of the alternative-rock band Radiohead.
Brace yourself, the dragon ants are coming
Cutting-edge 3D imaging has identified two new ant species, who bear resemblance to some roaring Game of Thrones characters.
What do fire ants and ketchup have in common?
This is not a joke (nor a joke answer, though hard to believe), but according to a study published in Nature Materials earlier this week, they’re both runny when squeezed.
Do ants have feelings?
Ants brains are smaller and simpler than our own, but the collective hive mind of the colony could have feelings.
Could the world’s ant population fit in a Mini?
If you can’t fit them all into your car, maybe you should check your underwear.
Do ants ever sleep?
Sweet dreams little ant, please rest far away from me.