ing them to the presence of the fire ant scout. Once in the nest soldiers plus many of the minors are alerted to the presence of the invader scout (by its smell on the minor worker) they subsequently rush in mass along the already establish pheromone trail leading to the enemy. Once found the soldier surrounds the fire ant and attack relentlessly and are fully capable of destroying it due to their great superiority in numbers. Of course the whole purpose is to kill the fire ant scout before it can alert other fire ants in the area as to the presence of a woodland ant colony. Once accomplished the soldiers search the general area for any other fire ant scouts.
If fire ants mount a full scale attack of a woodland ant colony, the defenders have an alternate strategy. As fire ants arrive in full force the entire force of woodland soldier ants are sent into the battle. Soon the battle ground is littered with the bodies of the smaller species plus a multitude of legs and other body parts of the fire ants. As the battle continues any woodland ant minors still present retreat to the nest. As more and more fire ants arrive and the woodland ant soldiers are greatly out-numbered they retreat, close ranks to form a dense protective perimeter around their colony entrance. With the impending doom that the fire ants will soon break through the protective barrier and ravage, steal and consume the woodland ant’s eggs, larvae and pupae the activity of the minors in the colonies is frantic but well programs. They gather the young in their mandibles and sprint out though the colony entrance, through the battle field and beyond to safety. The woodland ant soldiers remain true to their programmed behavior and fight to the death. Once the fire ants leave the now ravaged colony the minors return with their cargo of eggs, larvae and pupae and reestablish colony life. Over time new soldiers develop in the colony preparing for the possibility of another raid. Such is the life of ants!
Some ants survive by controlling the environment in which they live. In the Amazon rain forests there is a tremendous diversity of vegetation. If you walk through the forest no plant typically dominates and you may not see any two plants of the same species within hundreds of yards. One notable exception is the Cordia tree. On occasion you will find a large stands of these trees with no other plants in the vicinity. In addition these stands are typically encircled by large barren strips of land. The reason for this phenomenon is the presence of a small ant species that lives within the stems of these trees. They are very protective killing any plant feeding insects. They will also swarm on and attack any larger animal venturing into the stand. In addition any other species of plants that germinates with in the stand quickly shrivels and dies due to the ants stinging and injecting venom into the terminal buds. As might be expected the barren areas surrounding the stand of trees is similarly cleared by the stinging of these ants. Of course the ants benefit from this symbiotic relationship since they are provided by a safe bountiful location for their nests. And of course the trees benefit as they are provided with an endless competitively free environment in which to expand their growth. People living in the rain forest refer to the barren areas as the “devil’s garden” and refrain from planting crops there.
Honey Ants. Ants vary tremendously as to their food preferences, size and colony locations. The honey ants are among some of the more interesting species. Normally they live in arid desert regions of the world; their primary diet is honeydew, which they collect from aphids and other homopterans. In such dry areas, honeydew-producing insects are common during the rainy season only when host plants prevail. Because in most areas this season only lasts a few months, honey ants have developed a means of ‘storing’ honeydew from season to season. A special form of worker called the replete, or reservoir ant, accomplishes this. These repletes are fed huge amounts of honeyd