Ants — The Little Creatures That Run the World
Duration: 4 hours
Target Audience: Anyone who is interested in science, life, joy, nature and the cosmos
Brief:
Ants are little creatures that run the world. The word ‘Ant’ is derived from Ante of middle English. West Germanic amatijo meaning ‘the biter’. Ai means ‘off or away’ and mait means to cut. Family name is Formicidae which is derived from the Latin Formica. Sanskrit name is Vamrah . In Greek it is Myrmex . Study of ants is known as Myrmicology.
Ants are social Insects (Eusociality). They belong to the family Formicidae . There are more than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species. A million ants would fit into a human body. By weight, on our Earth, weight of ants is equal to the weight of Humans. There are many kinds of ants: Fire ants, army ants, harvester ants, weaver ants, leaf-cutter ants, carpenter ants and wood ants.
Ants are social Insects (Eusociality). They belong to the family Formicidae . There are more than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species. A million ants would fit into a human body. By weight, on our Earth, weight of ants is equal to the weight of Humans. There are many kinds of ants: Fire ants, army ants, harvester ants, weaver ants, leaf-cutter ants, carpenter ants and wood ants.
Some remarkable qualities of ants that they are:
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14. They don't get hurt
15. They can count (up to 100 or more) 16. They invented agriculture fifty million years before humans invented it 17. Most living things are on their ‘menu’ 18. They invented antibiotics forty million years humans invented them 19. They are highly efficient (specialization) 20. They never complain 21. They colonized the whole world more successfully than empires 22. Recent developments in problem solving (Swarm Intelligence) and Swarmbots (Robotics) came from ants |
There are four ways of looking at ants:
The First Way : The ant as an individual
The Second Way : The ant colony as a society The Third Way : The ant colony as an organism The Fourth Way : The ant colony as a mind |
Outline of Lecture
This lecture will cover: (1) Anatomy of ants, (2) Life cycle of ants, (3) Nest building, (4) Communication, (5) Locomotion and navigation, (6) Troubles of ants, and (7) Scientists’ attempts to imitate ants.
Benjamin Franklin said,” None preaches better than the ant, because it says nothing”.
Benjamin Franklin said,” None preaches better than the ant, because it says nothing”.