Gary Archibald, Weathercaster

This is third blog in my series “Weather/Climate and Wildlife”. The focus today is on the mesmerizing world of…ants.

I’ve been fascinated with ants for many, many years, dating back to early childhood, summer afternoons playing in the backyard of my house with my brother and neighborhood friends. Ants, as tiny as there are, make a big impression on the young at heart. Theirs is a world of exploration, teamwork, mechanization, attention to detail, workflow, responsibility, the perpetuation of the species, and ultimately sacrifice. Each has his/her role (the queen or queens- some colonies have more than one, and the sterile female workers) and to that end, each fulfills his/her role with the utmost dedication, ritualistic motivation, and natural genetic code of conduct. It is a life worthy of living because in so doing it is a life for the living, the essential survival of the ant colony, home to thousands, millions of current and future generations of the species.

An ant colony is an underground lair where ants live. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, connected to each other and the surface of the earth by small tunnels. There are rooms for nurseries, food storage, and mating. The colony is built and maintained by legions of worker ants, who carry tiny bits of dirt in their mandibles and deposit them near the exit of the colony, forming an ant-hill.

A fire ant cleans itself on the point of a No. 2 lead pencil.

In particular, ants control the air flow, ventilation and circulation of oxygen in their intricate lairs – climate control is essential to optimize the growth of the eggs the queen ant lays during her season. Temperatures at the surface and below ground at daytime in your average garden during peak summertime heat may vary 10 to 30 degrees (depending on geographical location in the western Hemisphere). The cooler earth underground, unexposed to direct sunlight, is ideal for premature ants (eggs, and subsequent larvae alike) to mature, all the while receiving the vital attention on a round-the-clock basis by the army of dedicated worker ants. The depth to which these dens are located (with some limitations, based on the makeup of the ground) determines, to some extent, how cool the temperatures can be. The cool “dens” can be warmed up by the movement and circulation of more worker ants in close proximity. Larvae tend to grow best in a climate controlled 70-75 F.

Periodically, swarms of new queens and males called alates are produced, usually winged, which leave to mate. The males die shortly thereafter, while the surviving queens either found new colonies or occasionally return to their old one. The surviving queens can live up to around 15 years.

So there you have it – climate plays a key role in the perpetuation of a very complex, dynamic, and unique species. Next up, I’ll take a look at bees and beehives. They share similar traits and habits with ants. Fascinating creatures…

Until next time – take care.

GA