The answer to the question of how many legs an ant has is very simple: any ant has 6 legs. And regardless of the type, size, color and habitat - this is the main difference between any ant from its distant relatives - ticks, spiders and crustaceans. In general, all six legs of ants in the adult stage are clearly visible and distinguishable, and therefore it is relatively easy to count them.
Each pair of ant legs is located on a separate part of the chest. These segments have different sizes and proportions in different species of ants and even in individual castes of the same species, but in general the arrangement of the legs is common to all ants.
The front legs of ants are located on the prothorax. On these paws, ants have a special device, similar to a small brush, with which the insect can clean the antennae and other legs.
The ant’s hind legs have spurs that perform various functions.Most often they are used by ants soldiers to participate in battles with other ants.
Due to the special structure of their feet, ants get a lot of useful abilities at the expense of them.
How ants stick on sheer surfaces
Surfaces of almost any degree of smoothness and steepness are not an obstacle for ants. The smaller the ant, the smoother the surface it can run. For example, home pharaoh ant, quietly moving on the glass, which can not do, for example, a black cockroach.
In such acrobatic tricks, ants help tiny nicks on their paws, with which they can quite successfully cling to the protrusions that can only be seen through a microscope. Of course, the trunks of trees and the surface of stones in nature are like comfortable stairs for them.
It is interesting
Some ants from the family of phaetons can run at a speed of about 4 km / h, being one of the fastest-running insects in general (today the record of running is registered for racehorse beetles and Madagascar cockroaches). Paws - the only salvation of these ants that live in one of the most extreme biotopes of the world in general - in the sandy and clay deserts of Africa, Asia and America.These ants can withstand air temperatures of up to 50 ° C, but if in such conditions the ant lingers in the sun and does not reach the anthill in time, it will simply fry.
In addition, due to their feet, some ants can swim. This, for example, distinguishes Australian bulldog ants, unique insects in many of their qualities. They are able to easily swim across water barriers 15 cm wide (for example, small pools).
It is interesting
Ants Bulldogs also know how to make big jumps - up to 50 cm in length. Only they do it not with the help of paws, but pushing off the ground with their jaws.
6 paws as a hallmark of ants
It is in the number of paws that ants differ from most other arthropods. For example, some poorly biologically-savvy tourists may confuse ants with very small ticks or spiders. All arachnids (to which mites also belong) have eight paws, and only considering how many paws an “ant” has, one can definitely say if it is really an ant.
In addition to spiders and ticks, there are no more arthropods in the fauna of our country with which ants can be confused.But some beetles very skillfully imitate the body shape of ants in order to penetrate into their anthills and live there. Such beetles are rarely seen, and without special knowledge to distinguish them from ants can be very problematic.
On a note
But to distinguish ant uterus from the working individual is quite simple: the uterus is much larger and more massive than the working ants, while they also have 6 legs.
Does ants use their paws only for running
With their feet, ants can perform a large number of operations. It is thanks to the strength of the paws and the ability to place them wider than the body itself, the ant can quite lift above itself and carry a weight of 50 times its own weight.
On a note
From a purely physiological point of view, there is nothing extraordinary in such super abilities of ants. With a decrease in the size of the body of any living creature, the cross section of the muscles of his body decreases disproportionately. That is why, compared to its body, this tiny insect lifts a weight that would turn into 3 tons for a person. The ratio of the muscle mass to the body mass of the ant itself is much greater than this ratio in humans.
Legs are used by desert ants to measure distance. This is a kind of navigation tool for them: the ant remembers how many steps it took after each turn, and on the way back it makes an amendment exactly to this angle and the same number of steps. If the length of the legs change (what did the experimenters, studying this phenomenon), the ant will either miss the target, or, conversely, run across it.
And weaver ants, widely known for their skill in making nests from leaves, use legs to fold leaves. Several ants (sometimes several dozen) cling to the edge of one leaf with their jaws, and the edge of the other - with their paws, after which they press the edges against one another, and the other ants hold the leaves together with a secret secreted by the larvae. So it turns out to be a very convenient nest for a whole colony, the living “skeleton” of which for the first few hours are working individuals.
Leg glands as a tool for orientation
Ants also use their feet to transmit odor signals. Scientists have discovered glands on the paws of ants, which emit strongly smelling pheromones.Ants leave these substances as labels on different objects in the course of their movement, making the path more visible to other individuals.
The more ants run along such a path, the more tags remain on it, the more it is attractive to other individuals. Accordingly, the most visited trails look to ants as comfortable highways, while the routes just marked are comparable for them to a barely walked path in the forest.
It is because of errors in the arrangement of such marks that famous ant circles occur: if an ant casually runs in a circle and closes its own path with a more fresh trace, obeying instinct, it then continues to run in a circle. Several of his fellows can connect to him, and when the number of ants crosses over several hundred, such a circle can become a real disaster for the family - the ants in it can run to complete exhaustion. However, such a circle can arise only in the absence of visible external landmarks, when ants are forced to use only their aromatic traces for navigation.
Therefore, if the next time you see an ant, look at its paws.These bodies, thin and seemingly inconspicuous, help little laborers to do real miracles!
An interesting video about the amazing life of ants
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Do ants over time can grow paws? And what will happen to him if he loses at least one?
Not. The paws of ants do not regenerate. An ant is a one-time individual, with severe damage it dies quickly, no one cares for a disabled person, and sometimes other ants even kill. High speed of reproduction and large number of colonies level the value of an individual.
How does an ant have a paw? What makes her move? Muscles? How and where are fixed in each joint? In my opinion, the movement of the paws is more complicated than just bending inwards. So, there, probably, a few muscles. And the paw itself is hollow? Where can I get to know this better? Questions from the engineer. Engaged in robotics. Perhaps I can repeat the ant for household needs.
Be, after this such bad feelings as in the lessons of the world.