One of the most fascinating and remarkable creatures in the world is the ant. There are more than 3,500 different kinds of ants, and they are found almost everywhere in the world.

All ants are very much alike except In size. Ants may be as tiny as 1.5 millimeters or as long as 50 millimeters. All ants live in colonies. But there are tremendous differences in their way of life and their habits.

One of the most interesting types of ants, for example, is the “army ant.” It eats living things! In Africa, there is a type of army ant called the “driver” ant. These ants go out in armies of many thousands. They kill and eat everything in their way.

Now you might wonder, “How can a little insect like the ant eat and kill everything in its way?” Well, there are thousands and thousands of them. Even the largest animals run away when they are coming. And if a creature cannot run then good-bye! The army ants will kill and eat it, whether it is a fly or a crocodile or a wounded lion!

Army ants in the Americas eat only small things. They are called “legionary” ants. They may be found in the southern United States, and in Central and South America. Legionary ants travel in lines of thousands of individuals. In Mexico, people move out of their houses when they come. The ants eat all the roaches, rats, mice, and lizards that may be in the houses. Then the people move back to vermin-free houses!

Did you know that there are also ants who own slaves? These are the Amazon ants. The Amazon workers are all soldiers, and so they cannot gather food or tend to the young. So they must raid other ants to get slaves who will do this work.

They raid the nests of certain small, black ants. They kill any ants who try to resist them. Then they take the cocoons and larvae to their own homes. When the black ants come out of the cocoons, they will work in the Amazon colony, just like slaves!