Ants
Latest about Ants
![On a floating raft of fire ants, structural ants and "free" ants alike come together to form bridges that may help them reach drier surfaces.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tNMSFpqyz7xeyrptz7UGV7-320-80.gif)
Watch thousands of fire ants form living 'conveyor belts' to escape floods (Video)
By Mindy Weisberger published
Video and computer modeling shows how fire ants create bridge extensions from their enormous rafts, made of tightly packed ants numbering in the tens of thousands.
![A Cardiocondyla elegans worker ant carrying a queen to a foreign nest.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/akw6Cj7PcoGCsTUf2Bm5qV-320-80.jpg)
These worker ants drag their queens to far-off bachelor pads to mate
By Ben Turner published
This is the first time that third-party matchmaking has been observed in non-humans.
![A close-up of the pheromone gland in a Stenophylla lobivertex female.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ArnkktH4mhUa9AWhjj9EVa-320-80.jpg)
Dragon mantis females have a Y-shaped sex gland that moves like a tentacle and looks like a maggot
By Mindy Weisberger published
A two-pronged, pheromone-producing gland in female dragon mantises only pops up when they are ready to mate.
![An Indian jumping ant.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MAGtNUuh4WXiYCesMitpWi-320-80.jpg)
To become queen, these ants shrink their brains and balloon their ovaries (then, they reverse it)
By Ben Turner published
The researchers say that brain plasticity like this may not just be a trick of the ants. Other animals could do it too, and we may only just be noticing.
![This female springbok mantis sustained a (now healed) abdominal wound during a wrestling match with a male.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vwiTHti5TAdakJbwDPVbSe-320-80.jpg)
Scientists set up mantis 'gladiator matches' to see why some males keep their heads after sex
By Laura Geggel published
Male springbok mantises that attack females can sometimes escape cannibalism.
![Photomicrograph from top view of the hell ant, Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri, restraining its prey, an extinct cockroach relative called Caputoraptor elegans, preserved in amber.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uggCvrNNz4gztDBgKi4S6C-320-80.jpg)
Scythelike jaws of Cretaceous 'hell ant' clutch a baby cockroach in an amber tomb
By Mindy Weisberger published
The death strike of a Cretaceous "hell ant" from 99 million years ago is preserved in amber, revealing how these demonic-looking ants hunted.
![The Australian bees of genus Tetragonula produce strange, spiral nests. Scientists think they know why.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Y79gH6qiPQHTRvRKg4xnjH-320-80.jpeg)
Strange, spiral bee combs look like fantastical crystal palaces. Now we know why.
By Brandon Specktor published
The stingless Tetragonula bees build nests in strange, spiral shapes. New research offers a reason why.
![A Madagascan marbled praying mantis grabs at a dangling fly.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YnRXFmJjw2ofwitrtkz2Uh-320-80.gif)
High-speed video shows every second of a praying mantis's lethal strike
By Mindy Weisberger published
Researchers captured slow motion video of praying mantis strikes, revealing what makes these insects such effective predators.
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