elbowed feelers ants use to smell, taste, touch, and communicate Context: Ants use antennae to touch other ants, tap the ground, and check out pieces of food.
Brood:
The general word for ant babies no matter what stage they’re in (eggs, larvae, and pupae) Context: Worker ants take good care of the brood!
Colony:
a big group of social insects that all live together Context: Ants can’t survive on their own so they live together in a colony.
Communication:
to provide messages by touch, vibration, chemicals, or noise Context: Ants do a lot of communication with their antennae.
Invasive ant species:
types of ants not originally from Texas, but that live here now Context: Red imported fire ants are an invasive ant species that have done a lot of bad things in Texas!
Larva:
the stage of an ant’s life immediately after hatching from the egg; more than one "larva" is "larvae" Context: When an ant is a larva it has no legs!
Mandibles:
the ant’s strong jaws that dig, cut, bite and carry objects Context: Using their mandibles, leafcutting ants can haul pieces of leaves bigger than themselves!
Native ant species:
types of ants that naturally occur in Texas Context: Red harvester ants are the native ant species eaten by Texas horned lizards, our state reptile.
Pupa:
the third stage in the life of an ant, just before it becomes an adult; more than one "pupa" is "pupae" Context: When it is a pupa an ant will make a cocoon.
Queen ants:
the female ants that lay all of a colony’s eggs Context: Queen ants can lay millions of eggs in their lifetimes!
Reproductives:
male and female winged ants that leave the nest to start their own colonies Context: The only ants that have wings are reproductives.
Social stomach:
a special pouch where ants store liquid food used for chemical communication and extra food for nest mates Context: The social stomach is like an ant’s second stomach.
Thorax:
the middle section of an insect’s body Context: An ant’s six legs are attached to its thorax.
Worker ants:
female ants that cannot reproduce and have the job of taking care of the queen ant and the brood Context: All the worker ants in a colony are females.
