Ants are insects, they have 3 main body parts and 6 legs.
In biology, ants are classed as Insecta and their order is Hymenoptera (referring to the ant's membranous wings), their suborder is Apocrita (referring to their narrow waist) and their actual family is called Formicidae.
So now you know what we can keep ants in habitats known as Formicariums.
There are over 12,000 species of ants, 180 of which are within Europe, with perhaps 50 in Britain.
Ants are social creatures that live in colonies of hundreds, thousands or millions of individuals (depending on the species). There are different castes within a colony, and they can be of different sizes and shapes, known as polymorphs.
Ants communicate using pheremones (hormonally charged scent chemicals) and so can follow a trail of pheremones to food and back to the nest.
Ant nests are often underground, while other ants craft nests in trees. Some ants do not live in nests, as their colonies are always on the move.
Ants navigate using pheremone scent trails, as well as by remembering positions of landmarks, like stones. Ants can navigate by the sun and can count their own steps so they know distances.
The study of ants is called Myrmecology and so ant keepers are sometimes known as Myrmecologists.
