Suburban Sponsors Bugs Exhibit at Long Island Aquarium

Scientists estimate that mnore than 100 billion ants inhabit our earth. We rarely see these social insects. Their nests are typically underground, in trees or in mounds on the ground. So given the chance to view a busy ant - outside your home -  we are all fascinated.  (Ants are less than charming when you encounter an ant in your home!)

 

The Bugs Exhibit contains the leaf cutter ant from rain forests in Central and South America, Mexico, and small parts of the southern United States. Leaf cutter ants are fun to watch since they march along in single file while carrying big chunks of leaves. These ants chew off pieces of plants with their jaws vibrating close to 1000 times per second. They carry the bits of leaves into tunnels and wait for fungus to grow.  This fungus is their food  "crop".

 

Most of these leaf cutter ants are workers about ½ an inch long. Only the queen ant may be more than 1 inch long. The smallest ants, called minims, grow the fungus food and watch over eggs. The very largest worker ants, called majors, go out to collect leaves and defend the colony from intruders.

 

Have you spotted the Queen Ant in the LI Aquarium exhibit?  An ant colony relies on the queen to breed more workers, soldiers and farmers.  Ant queen or queens lay thousands of eggs to insure the colony's survival. Ants must cooperate with each other to meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and defense.