Ant Cities Underground
Ants are amazing engineers that build complex underground cities called colonies. A single ant colony can have millions of members and extend ten feet deep into the ground!
Inside an ant colony, there are different chambers for different purposes. The nursery chamber holds the eggs and baby ants (larvae). The food storage chambers are like underground pantries. The queen's chamber houses the queen ant, whose only job is to lay eggs — some queens lay thousands of eggs per day!
Ants create extensive tunnel systems that, like earthworm tunnels, help aerate the soil and improve water drainage. Scientists have found that ant tunnels can be even MORE effective at aerating soil than earthworm tunnels in some environments.
Leaf-cutter ants in tropical forests do something incredible — they cut pieces of leaves, carry them underground, and use them to grow fungus gardens! The ants eat the fungus, not the leaves. They are farmers, growing their own food underground.
Fire ants, carpenter ants, and harvester ants all play different roles in soil ecosystems. While some ants can be pests in gardens, most species are beneficial because they aerate soil, cycle nutrients, and disperse seeds.
**Wow Factor:** The largest ant colony ever discovered was a supercolony of Argentine ants stretching 3,700 miles across southern Europe!