desert bugs - Top That! Publishing

More documents

Recommendations

Info

How is a colony of ants made up A colony is made up of lots of small rooms, or chambers, which are joined together by a network of tunnels. The colony is built and looked after by thousands of worker ants. Worker ants are also known as ‘neuter’ ants, which means that they can’t breed. As well as maintaining the colony, they gather food, look after the young ants, defend the colony and look after the queen – the largest ant and the only one to lay eggs in the colony. Most of the eggs that the queen lays develop into worker ants, but certain ‘special’ eggs develop into ants of separate sexes, both male and female. Unlike their neuter family members, these males and females have wings, so set off to mate on what is known as their ‘nuptial flight’. Once mated, each female becomes the queen of a new colony. How many different types of ant are there There are over 12,000 known ant species – and probably many more that we don’t yet know about! You’ve probably seen black ants before – they are the most common species in Britain – but ants come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Some are smaller than a grain of sand, whereas others grow to the size of a human thumb. The unusual honeypot ant, with its body swollen with sweet honeydew, acts like a walking larder, whereas a bite from the ferocious bullet ant is said to be as painful as the shot from a gun! 24 How do ants communicate Ants have two ways of communicating in order to pass on messages about the nest, their food or their enemies. They do this by creating special chemicals called pheromones that other ants can smell. If this doesn’t work, they take a more direct approach and use their antennae to tap their message on to another ant! Ants use their antennae to communicate directly. A honeypot ant.
What does a queen ant do The queen ant’s sole responsibility is to lay eggs, making sure that the colony continues to grow. This means that all the other ants in the colony must look after her, clean her, protect her and feed her. What a great life for the queen! Worker ants clean, feed and protect the queen.
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2010 Top That! Publish
Page 5 and 6: Now You See Me Pages 34-36 Rainfore
Page 7 and 8: There are millions of species of in
Page 9 and 10: WHAT’S BUGGING YOU? Bedbugs, assa
Page 11 and 12: Are bugs able to live under water a
Page 13 and 14: Male stag beetles take to the air o
Page 15 and 16: EYE SPY DRAGONFLY Dragonflies are o
Page 17 and 18: How fast can dragonflies actually f
Page 19 and 20: All the members of the Orthoptera f
Page 21 and 22: FLUTTERBY BUTTERFLY Butterflies and
Page 23 and 24: BUSY BODIES There are over 19,000 k
Page 25: ANT-TASTIC Ants and termites are kn
Page 29 and 30: Which beetle has the most disgustin
Page 31 and 32: Do insects use their legs in self-d
Page 33 and 34: STAYING ALIVE It’s a jungle out t
Page 35 and 36: Do butterflies, moths and caterpill
Page 37 and 38: What is a leaf butterfly This amazi
Page 39 and 40: UP, UP AND AWAY The way in which in
Page 41 and 42: Why are moths attracted to light No
Page 43 and 44: Why does scent matter The insect wo
Page 45 and 46: Do killer bees really exist African
Page 47 and 48: Which rainforest insect tucks itsel
Page 49 and 50: Which water insect lives at the bot
Page 51 and 52: Which insect helps to turn over the
Page 53 and 54: How else do insects find water to d
Page 55 and 56: Ponds and swamps provide excellent
Page 57 and 58: DESERT BUGS You might expect the dr
Page 60 and 61: THE EYES HAVE IT To make up for the
Page 62 and 63: How does a caterpillar see its food
Page 64 and 65: GLOSSARY Honeycomb A waxy structure
Page 66 and 67: INDEX African honeybee 43 African s

desert bugs - Top That! Publishing

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?