40
ANT NATIONS
Imagine you were small enough to follow
an ant underground. You’d find yourself in
a connected set of tunnels teeming with
hundreds, thousands, or even millions
more ants. This is called a colony.
Leafcutter ants
These ants gather leaves to feed
fungi, which they grow for food.
The ants do different jobs to
keep the colony going.
Forager ants
find leaves for
the colony.
Excavators dig
new tunnels
and carry
away the dirt.
Ant tunnels
are like roads
in human cities.
U
sual
ly
,
o
n
e
q
u
e
e
n
l
a
y
s
eve
r
y
e
g
g
i
n
t
h
e
c
o
l
o
n
y
.
Super-colonies
Colonies can join up to form super-colonies.
One European super-colony stretches for
5,955 km (3,700 miles).
040-041_Ant_Nations.indd 40 31/10/2019 14:05