There are approximately 15,700 species of ants globally (Schultheiss et al., 2022). While it’s unclear how many inhabit the Amazon, this diverse ecosystem is home to a significant number of ant species, each playing a vital ecological role. Ants are among the most fascinating of all insects, largely due to their complex social structures and behaviors.

All ants are eusocial, meaning they live in organized societies with different castes that perform specific roles, determined at birth. Eusocial insects like ants and termites are known for their remarkable organizational skills, with ants considered among the most highly structured. Ants demonstrate behaviors once thought unique to humans, such as waging wars, farming fungi, and herding aphids.

Ants are essential to their ecosystems. Their eusocial structure allows them to work collectively, effectively amplifying their impact within the environment. Ants serve a variety of roles, including as protectors of plants, herbivores, carnivores, decomposers, and even as social parasites. Social parasites are ants that infiltrate the colonies of other species and rely on them for resources.

Ultimately, ants are some of the most important and remarkable insects on the planet, contributing significantly to the ecological balance of the Amazon rainforest.

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References:

Schulthesis, Patrick. Nooten, Sabine S. Wang, Runxi. Guenard, Benoit. (September 19, 2022) The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on earth Ecology

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2201550119