They serve as prey for neighboring ants, spiders, lizards, birds and some mammals. Ants are normally not taken by casual collectors. Thus their distributions and habitat preferences are still poorly known. Due to human encroachment, habitats worldwide are becoming disturbed, fragmented and degraded. It is thus now a race to discover the species abundance and distribution in a given habitat before that site can be destroyed.
Ants are one of the most abundant and easily collected animals.
Because of their importance in the food web, knowledge of their distribution can strengthen arguments for preservation of a given habitat. This exercise will familiarize the student with collection techniques necessary to survey a given area for that purpose. Introduction to Ant Collecting Familiarization of equipment used in collecting ants. How to locate ant nests. How to collect, preserve and label ants.