Where do ants live?

 Where do ants live?

Ants live on every continent on earth with the exception of Antarctica. Ants make their nests in the ground and they will build very elaborate tunnels and chambers to house eggs, food and their young underground. The telltale sign of a small mound of earth with an opening at the top, known as an anthill, is very common in all areas around the globe.

Not all ants make their nests in the earth. Carpenter ants, for example, will use wood such as fallen trees or old, abandoned logs.

Most of the time ants prefer to be out in nature where they can have easy access to food and good places to build their nests. However, humans have encroached upon their territory so much, that human and ant interaction is inevitable. Ants have been known to build their nests in the cracks of pavement, within lawns, and right near or beside homes. Sometimes, while foraging for food, ants will find their way indoors and if they find a good source of food, they leave behind a trail which will bring more ants and create an indoor infestation of ants.

What do ants eat?

Ants are one of nature’s biggest scavengers. The vast majority of ants are opportunistic and will eat meat. This includes insects and dead things. Ants are famous for being able to take apart even dead lizards using their very sharp mandibles to then transport the pieces back to their nests. Most ants are carnivorous, but there are some species which feed exclusively on plants. For example, Leaf-Cutter ants are almost exclusively herbivores.

Some species of ant will actually seek out living creatures and consume them. Driver ants, for example, are infamous for going on massive hunts which will clear out entire rainforest floors of nearly every living thing from other insects, small animals, and other living things.

Ants are also known to get inside properties and homes. They look for sweet things, primarily, and are famous for swarming over sugary things such as candy, ice cream, and other things dropped on the ground. Ants will take whatever they find palatable and bring it back to the nest which can include fruits, too. This is why you will find ants in a kitchen going for food on counters, in cupboards and located beneath kitchen sinks or within pantries.

Their scavenging tendencies are actually one of the key benefits ants bring to the world. They will clean up dead animal carcasses, help with pest control in some areas, and clean up other garbage and debris left on the ground. The problem comes when the nests grow out of control and they threaten people, children and pets.