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Ant-tastic Teamwork!
By Marie Droual
2023

In this informational text, Marie Droual teaches readers about the interesting world of ants.

As you read, take notes on how ants work together.

[1] Picture a summer day: you, your family and

friends are in the park enjoying the warm
weather. You play some soccer, a little frisbee,
then settle down to a delicious picnic. You
open the food only to discover that ants have
found it first! They’re crawling everywhere.
You try to brush them off, but it’s too late.
These small insects are often seen as a
nuisance or pests, unwelcome to any
gathering or home. But they are actually
fascinating creatures that are a lot more
complicated1 than they naturally appear.
Behind the chaos2 is a careful organization3
of roles and responsibilities. Let’s dig a little
deeper and learn more about them.

"Ants" by Azzam Qourti is licensed under CC0.

Ants, ants everywhere

Ants have been around for millions of years. They were found in fossils4 over 100 million years
old! They are a type of insect. An easy way to identify5 an insect is based on the number of legs
they have. All insects have six legs. There are over 12,000 different species of ants. Across these
species, there are lots of different shapes, sizes, and appearances. There are the harmless but
smelly house ants that release a sour smell when squashed. The fire ants have a scary
reputation for their sting. In Central America, there are ants called bullet ants. They are called

1. difficult to understand
2. Chaos (noun) lack of order
3. order
4. the remains of a living thing from an earlier time, found in earth or rock
5. Identify (verb) to figure out what something is

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 this because their sting is so painful, it is like getting shot! Turtle ants have large, dish-like heads
that can be used to block predators6 from getting into the nest. We are only scratching the
surface when it comes to the different types of ants, as there are so many!

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Amazing structures built by ants

Ants are impressive in many ways, but especially in their strength. A single ant can carry 50
times its body weight. That would be like a 50-pound child picking up 2,500 pounds. That’s more
than the average weight of a moose or bison! However, when ants work together their feats8
are even more incredible. Fire ants have been seen making large rafts made of their own
bodies during floods in the south of the U.S. Another species of ants, army ants, will use their
bodies to create a hanging, temporary9 nest where they can protect themselves and raise their
young. You can see these hanging structures in Central American forests.

The structures that ants make inspire10 people to learn more about how they create them.
There are engineers who study ants to learn more about the details of these structures. They
study these structures to hopefully mimic11 them in the form of robots or bridges.

Teamwork is key

[5] The key behind the ants’ amazing feats are communication and organization. Ants are a social
animal species, meaning they live together in communities containing thousands of ants. Within
these communities, or colonies, ants are organized into specific groups. Just like you might be
divided up into teams to complete a larger task, ants organize themselves into teams. Each
team has a specific role. Some ants will take care of the brood — those ants that are still
developing into full-grown ants. Other ants will defend the colony against attackers. Every
colony has what’s known as the queen ant. She makes up her own team, as the producer of
eggs. Working together, each ant has a role in keeping the colony alive and well. As strong as an
individual ant is on their own, together they are powerful.

6. an animal that hunts and eats other animals

7. Structures (noun) things that have been built
8. Feat (noun) an action of great skill or strength
9. for a short time
10. Inspire (verb) to cause someone to want to do something
11. copy

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Lending a helping…tarsus?

Just because ants are strong, it doesn’t mean that they don’t take care of one another. In some
species, ants have been seen to display13 selfless behavior. A species commonly known as
paramedic ants will go on raids to capture prey to eat. During these raids, ants will get injured.
Rather than leaving them behind, other ants will bring the hurt ants back to the colony where
they can recover and get better. This way, they can rejoin the other ants in these raids.
Paramedic ants are just one example of ant species that look out for one another. They do this
because they know that they are stronger together than individually. That is why they will risk
their own lives to save their nest-mates, those ants who belong to the same colony.

Whether they are lifting something 50 times their weight or saving nest-mates, ants are an
incredible animal. Maybe next time ants invade your picnic, take some time to take a look at
them. Watch how they touch one another to communicate and, of course, lift heavy pieces of
your food.

"Ant-tastic Teamwork!" by Marie Droual. Copyright © 2023 by CommonLit, Inc. This text is licensed
under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

12. a body part of an ant

13. Display (verb) to make known

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 Text-Dependent Questions
Directions: For the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete
sentences.

1. What is the main idea of the text?

A. Ants are strong enough to lift heavy animals.
B. Ants are nuisances that ruin human's picnics.
C. Ants' organization helps them do many incredible things.
D. Ants have not been studied in enough detail by scientists.

2. Based on the text, what is the author's point of view on ants?

A. The author thinks humans should be afraid of ants.
B. The author thinks that ants have interesting and special skills.
C. The author wants ants to stop creating their own nests and rafts.
D. The author wants more people to keep ants as pets in their homes.

3. In paragraph 2, "species" most closely means —

A. colors.
B. homes.
C. teams.
D. types.

4. According to the text, what is the role of the queen in a colony of ants?
A. to return hurt ants to the colony
B. to protect the colony from attacks
C. to produce all the eggs for the colony
D. to create hanging nests for the colony

5. Based on the information in the text, why is working together important to ants?

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 Discussion Questions
Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be
prepared to share your original ideas in a class discussion.

1. Has this article changed your opinion on ants? If so, how? If not, why? What
information did you find interesting or surprising? Why do you think so many
humans see ants and other insects as pests instead of interesting creatures?

2. Scientists study army ants to learn how they make their hanging nests. They want to
copy them and create things that are useful for humans. What are other insects or
animals that humans can learn from? Do you think learning about animal behavior
makes people more likely to protect animals?

3. The article mentions many of the amazing abilities of ants. Which ability did you find
the most impressive? If you were an ant, which of the ants from the article would you
choose to be? Why?

4. What are some other animals that work together to survive? How are these animals
similar to ants? How are they different? Are insects at all similar to humans in the
way that they act? How so?