THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ANTS
Learn About Nature's Most Amazing & Industrious Insects!
By Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis
Search Terms: About Ants, Myrmecology, Ant Types, Ant Species, Ant Behaviors, Formicidae Taxonomy, Ant Taxonomy
Welcome to the Myrmecology pages of Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis. This website contains information All About Ants, Ant Species and Ant Taxonomy - the way ants are biologically classified and ranked by scientists within the insect world. Biological Classification has a hierarchy of eight major taxonomic ranks based on original works of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who grouped all known species according to similarities and physical characteristics.
As technology advanced Molecular Phylogenetics, which uses DNA sequences as data, the original works of Linnaeus were augmented to improve classification conformity with Darwin's Principle of Common Descent. Today's combination of biological classification and Phylogenetics belongs to the science of Biological Systematics.
Biological scientists and more specifically myrmecologists (those who study ants) utilize taxonomic rankings* to understand ancestral and evolutional relationships, biodiversity, and how organisms are related to, or different from, other similar organisms. The Biological Classification of Ants (Formacidae) within the animal kingdom looks like this:
Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Arthropoda, Subphylum: Hexapoda, Class: Insecta, Subclass: Pterygota, Infraclass: Neoptera, Order: Hymenoptera, Suborder: Apocrita, Infraorder: Aculeata, Superfamily: Vespoidea, Family: Formicidae, Genus: (there are many) Species: (there are many)(ITIS, 2006).about Myrmecology - the study of Ants. About Ants, Myrmecology, Ant Types Ant Behaviors
*Taxonomic rankings can be defined as the relative position of categories within the taxonomic hierarchy, with each subsequent rank below "kingdom" becoming more discriminatory.
Taxonomic ranking provide a structural framework which facilitates learning and enables us to study about ants and ant species in relation to themselves and other species in a systemic manner. For example, did you know ants are descendents from wasp-like ancestors? That is why their Family: Formicidae (see above) is classified under the Order: Hymenoptera (see above). The word "Hymenoptera", derived from the ancient Greek word "humenopteros" literally means "membranous wings"; and the Order: Hymenoptera happens to be the same order under which wasps and bees are also classified (family names not shown here). About Ants, Myrmecology, Ant Types Ant Behavior,About Ants, Myrmecology, Ant Types, Ant Behaviors.
Additional website specifics include comprehensive articles about various Ant Species: their characteristics, the kinds of colonies they create, class
behaviors within their colony, how they impact their environment and their relationship with man. Pertinent insect definitions are
provided and, yes, even ways for ant control are suggested, when
they seem to overstep their bounds. Myrmecology, about ants, ant types, ant behaviors, Ant Species.
The informative and well-illustrated articles are written in an easy-to-understand
manner. Most photos presented
are high definition. Videos and diagrams of ants are chosen for
their educational content and their ability to augment article
text. "TID BIT" articles are informational thumbnail sketches
of larger, more complex articles as well snapshots of interesting,
related topics.
My aim at info-now.org/ants is to create for you enjoyable, academic and visual experiences about one of
the world's most tiniest insects. ant types, ant behaviors
Thank you for visiting this Myrmecology portal.
To access information all About Ants - just click links on the side panels.
info-now.org : Article Previews
From: "The Wonderful World of Ants" & "Gardening Tips". |
The Ant, Taxonomic Family: Formicidae by Dr. Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis Ants are fascinating insects even though most people think of them as a nuisance. They are extremely hard workers and live in complex, underground colonies. Alone, a single ant cannot survive but as part of a team, where each ant has a particular job to do, they not only survive but they thrive. Twenty subfamilies compose Family: Formicidae (ITIS, 2006) and as of December, 2008 there have been 12,471 species recorded (Antbase, 2005). Over twice the number of recorded species are believed to exit. Ants thrive throughout the world in all geographic locations except for a few remote islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, Greenland, Iceland and the polar regions. Ants, Family: Formicidae range in size from 0.75 to 52 mm (0.030 to 2.0 in) and vary in color. Most are red or black, green is rare, and some tropical species have a metallic luster (Wikipedia, 2008). Ants are covered with read more |
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Garden Planting and Transplanting Tips by Dr. Carolyn Pararas-Carayannis "The best time to plant or transplant plants in your garden is early spring, when new leaf buds begin to swell on the stems, just prior to the leaves maturing. During this time plants are still semi-dormant and the trauma of moving them is much less. If it is late spring and leaves are mature it is recommended that planting and/or transplanting is deferred until the fall, when the cooler temperatures and shorter time of daylight trigger a decrease in physiological processes read more
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