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Ants are common insects in our lives, almost everyone has seen an ant nest, but few people have seen the internal structure of an ant nest.
We may only be able to tell from the outside that the nest is deep from the outside, but it is not clear how deep it is.
This curiosity about the inside of the nest caught the attention of scientists, and when the scientists learned about our curiosity about the nest, they decided to take us inside the nest through a method.
Scientists use the technology of aluminium and cement irrigation to inject molten aluminium into the nest, and after the molten aluminum solidifies, an aluminum structure with the same structure as the nest is formed inside the nest.
The aluminium is much harder than the ant's nest, which also ensures that the aluminium will not be damaged, and the scientists then dug the aluminium out of the ground.
When people see the aluminum body, they can't help but be amazed by the scene in front of them, it turns out that the internal structure of the ant nest is so complex!
The generation of the queen ant.
In spring and summer, many ant colonies begin to emerge from the nest.
These colonies don't have names, but they are made up of a mature queen leading a colony of male and female ants.
These queens breed offspring year after year, and the colonies grow.
But gradually, the queen found herself physically inadequate, and she decided not to continue breeding after reproducing the last litter of offspring.
The queen ant is too old to mate anymore, but she still has no idea of stopping.
So she chose to fly to a high place with the little male ants and the little female ants when the temperature was more suitable in spring and summer, looking for a mate to mate.
Ant colonies flying in the sky may have some competition, but this also means a higher courtship success rate.
If there is no competition, the colony is also likely to encounter some hostile ant colonies of its own species at the same time, so that the colony may be hindered or even destroyed.
Ant colonies fly high altitudes to reduce the likelihood of encounters with hostile insect colonies, and studies have shown that insect colonies can fly at heights between 30 and 50 meters, just above the height at which birds congregate, making it less likely to encounter other species.
The ant colony flying in the sky also uses smell to find a mating partner, helping itself to find its target accurately.
These male queens send odor signals to the female queen, attracting the female queen in the vicinity, and the female queen determines whether the male queen is suitable for mating on her own by the intensity of the odor signal that occurs.
When the female queen smells the right intensity of the scent signal, they will mate, and after the mating, the male queen will die due to physical exhaustion, and only the female queen will live.
After mating, the female queen begins to establish a new colony, a very important process, the key to which is to breed the first worker ants.
When the female queen is able to successfully mate with the male queen, she will start looking for a suitable nest.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a nest:
First of all, the nest must be moist because the eggs need a moist environment to hatch.
Secondly, the nest should not be too wet, otherwise it will cause the eggs to die.
Finally, the ability of the nest to be buried in the soil is also an important factor, as the survivability of the swarm in the soil can be greatly improved.
Burying the nest underground protects the colony from predation by other species, as well as preventing the harsh effects of the environment.
After the female queen chooses the nest, she begins to lay eggs, which requires a lot of physical strength, and the female queen will be very tired after laying the first batch of eggs, so she will choose suitable food to supplement her physical strength and rest, waiting for the eggs to hatch.
The queen of ants is out of the nest.
After the first eggs hatch, the first worker ants are born, a special type of queen that, although much smaller than the average queen, is the main strength of the colony.
Once the worker ants have hatched, the female queen will begin to remove the eggs from the nest and transport them out of the nest.
This process is one of the most important tasks of the female queen, in order to avoid the eggs being preyed upon by other species, and also to create the best conditions for the next generation.
After all the eggs have been cleared, the female queen will start to lead the worker ants in search of food.
This is the first job of the worker ants, and only if the worker ants know how to forage for food, the female queen ant can have enough physical strength to continue to reproduce offspring.
During the foraging process, the worker ants will also slowly establish their own foraging area, thus avoiding fights between the worker ants for food.
At the same time, when there is enough food, the worker ants will also have a clear division of labor, and each is responsible for different tasks.
Foraging worker ants no longer worry about food shortages, will focus more on their work, and will even store the food they find to prepare for the winter ahead.
The female queen will modify the nest environment to ensure that the colony is optimal, and will also send out scent signals to attract other queens to mate.
The structure of the ant nest.
When ants build a nest, there is a clear division of labor, and each ant will take on its own task, usually in two ways.
The first is through tools, where ants use items such as twigs and leaves to pinch them to the right size and then use them to build nests.
The second is by carrying the soil, where the ants will use their front feet to remove the soil, then use the claws of the hind feet to separate the soil, and then use the front feet to put the soil into the nest.
Ants also have a clear division of labor when building nests, and different ants will take on different tasks, some are responsible for carrying soil, some are responsible for building nests, and some are responsible for observing their surroundings.
This division of labor can improve efficiency, shorten nesting time, and ensure the safety of the nest.
An ant's nest has many functional rooms, such as a room for storing food, a room for storing pupae, and a room for incubating ant eggs.
These rooms come in different shapes and sizes and are cleverly designed to make good use of the space and meet the needs of the colony.
The ant's nest also takes into account issues such as wind resistance and ventilation and drainage, and the shape and layout of the nest are carefully designed to cope well with changes in the external environment.
When ants build a nest, they use their antennae to identify odors, which can help ants find the location of their nests and also help them judge the safety of their nests.
epilogue
The interior of the nest is structured like a small town, containing countless rooms and passages, each with its own role and never making mistakes.
The nesting process of the ants showed us their superb skills and also shocked us.
In the world of ants, they are the greatest architects and the greatest engineers.