Ant of Sundarbans in Bangladesh.

Ant (pipda) insect of the relations Formicidae, classify Hymenoptera. There are about 8,000 poles apart group of ants, live in organised communities and are known as social insects like bees, wasps and termites. About 250 type of ants are acknowledged from Bangladesh, and these almost certainly characterize only a division of the full amount ant fauna in attendance in this kingdom. A number of of the most recognizable class of ants are in the vicinity acknowledged as Lal pipda, Kalo pipda, Deyo pipda, Bis pipda, Khude pipda, etc. An ant community, commonly called a colony, may have a dozen or many thousands of members. The members are divided into three castes: queens, workers, and males. Each colony may have one or several queens, many female workers and a few males. Usually in spring, a number of males and queens grow in a nest. They are winged, group out together and fly off for mating. After mating, a young queen starts a new colony by laying eggs which she continues to do for the rest of her life. The young queen takes care of the opening generation of ants she produces, which consists entirely of female employees. They take over the duties of food gathering, caring for the queen and the adolescent, enlarging and repairing the bubble. The only responsibility of males is to pal with the youthful queens and they die almost immediately after mate. The major workers are known as military who have a very large head and large mandibles. They protect the settlement from enemy. Some ants build their homes underground. Hot weaver ants build nests on tree foliage. Others construct their nests under rocks or rotten logs. Some reside inside living plants or chew tunnels in woodland to make a nesting breathing space Ants exchange a few words with one another in an assortment of ways. When two ants meet, they smell each other with their antennae and sometimes by giving off chemicals called pheromones. They play an important role in the balance of nature. They eat large number of insects and so help keep them from becoming too plentiful. Ants, in turn, are important food for birds, frogs, lizards, and many other animals. Ants may be both beneficial and harmful to farmers. Some of the common species of ants in Bangladesh are included in the genera Aenictus, Anochetus, Camptonotus, Cardiocondyl, Diacamma, Dorylus, Monomorium, Odontomachus, Phidole and Tetramorium. [Badrul Amin Bhuiya]