Encyclopedia ant ant, any of the 2,500 insect species constituting the family Formicidae of the order Hymenoptera, to which the bee and the wasp also belong. The head has two bent antennae, used both as organs of touch and as chemosensory organs. In most species there are two compound eyes. The jaws are of the biting type and in some species are used for defense. Some ants have stings, and some can spray poison from the end of the abdomen.
Most ants are black, brown, red, or yellow.
Metamorphosis is complete. In some species pupation occurs within a cocoon. Ants are cosmopolitan in distribution. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.