Allegheny mound ants (Formica exsectoides)

We have ant mounds on our farm – this one stands almost three feet tall. I think they are Allegheny Mound Ants – which range from Nova Scotia to Georgia. They don’t cause us problems since they are out on the far edges of our fields, but they can be damaging – these ants inject formic acid into plants and vegetation to clear the area near the mound. A mound this size can support a colony of up to 6,000 ants.

Ants are one of Earth’s most successful insects and are found in all types of climates including deserts, rainforests, mountains, valleys, and even the Arctic Circle. Estimates suggest that there are more than 20,000 species of ants on Earth.

This little ant is carrying the world on his shoulders…don’t believe me? I once heard a noted entomologist explain how ants are more important to the Earth’s ecosystems than perhaps any other living creature. Ants, by their digging and foraging, aerate the soil, putting them at the foundation of all advanced land animals. Without aerated soil, plant life is very poor, so there is little food for grazers, and so on up the food chain. Think of it this way: if human beings went suddenly extinct, Earth’s ecosystem would actually improve. If ants went extinct, the entire ecosystem would collapse resulting in a mass extinction – perhaps the largest ever.