Some animals live in groups and display social behavior.

Select a species of your

choice, discuss the roles they play, benefits and disadvantages of living in a
group.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Animals that live in groups with other members of their species are called social
animals. Social animals include many species of insects, birds, and mammals. Specific
examples of social animals are ants, bees, crows, wolves, lions, and humans. Why is
animal communication important? Without it, animals would not be able to live together
in groups. To live together with one another, these animals must be able to share
information.
Some species of animals are very social. In these species, members of the group
depend completely on one another. Different animals within the group have different
jobs. Therefore, group members must work together for the good of all.
2.0 ANTS LIVE IN GROUP AND THE ROLES THEY PLAY
Ants live together in large groups called colonies. A colony may have millions of
ants, making communication among the ants very important. All of the ants in the colony
work together as a single unit. Each ant has a specific job, and most of the ants are
workers. Their job is to build and repair the colonys nest. Worker ants also leave the
nest to find food for themselves and other colony members. The workers care for the
young as well. Other ants in the colony are soldiers. They defend the colony against
predators. Each colony also has a queen. Her only job is to lay eggs. She may lay
millions of eggs each month. A few ants in the colony are called drones. They are the
only male ants in the colony. Their job is to mate with the queen.
3.0 BENEFITS OF ANTS LIVING IN GROUPS
Ants always put their families first. Each colony is a close-knit family, usually
including a mother (queen), her adult daughters (workers), and brood (eggs, larvae,
pupae). During the mating season, new queens and males may also hang around the

colony, but not for long. These different types of ants represent the stages of a complex
individual life cycle.
In addition, ant superorganisms undergo their own sequence of changes called
the colony life cycle. The smallest ant colonies contain a queen and just a few workers.
The largest have many millions of workers, more populous than any human city
Ants build their homes in all sorts of places. Many species dig underground nests
and/or build mounds of soil. Others live in leaf litter, acorns, or rotting wood on the forest
floor. Some ants prefer to take cover underneath rocks, which can also provide warmth.
There are even ants that nest only in trees. Ants are excellent architects - their nests are
designed to provide just the right environment for larvae to grow. Some nests even have
a built-in ventilation system to circulate fresh air. To watch ants build a nest, you can
keep them in an ant farm.
An ant colony is like a factory. Nestmates work together to convert resources
(food) into products (more ants). This process is made more efficient through division of
labor, where different individuals specialize on different jobs. The queen has the very
specific role of laying eggs, which she spends most of her life doing. Worker ants
perform other duties, often depending on their age. Younger ants work inside the nest,
taking care of the queen and her brood. Older workers go outside to gather food and
defend the nest against enemies. Despite her size and royal title, the queen doesnt
boss the workers around. Instead, workers decide which tasks to perform based on
personal preferences, interactions with nestmates, and cues from the environment.
Members of an ant colony talk with one another to coordinate their activities, but
they never have to raise their voices. Instead, ants communicate mainly using
chemicals, which they smell with their antennae. Workers release pheromones with
specific messages, such as Follow me to food! or Attack the intruder!.
Nestmates recognize one another by chemicals that cover their bodies. The
queen is coated with a unique blend of chemicals that advertises her presence. In
addition, ants can also use touch and vibration to communicate in some situations.

Each individual ant has a tiny brain. But all the ants of a colony combined are
pretty smart. Ant superorganisms can solve difficult problems by processing information
as a group. For example, a colony can compare potential nest sites before collectively
choosing the best one. A solitary insect would not be able to weigh as many options,
and could more easily make a mistake. To learn more about the interesting ways ants
make decisions together, listen to the podcasts by ant scientists Bert Hlldobler and
Stephen Pratt, linked to your right in the sidebar.
One ant by itself cannot do much harm to many larger animals. But an ant colony
is a major force to be reckoned with. Hunting in groups allows ants to overcome much
bigger and stronger prey. By teaming up, ants can even defend their colony against
mammals. You may have been unlucky to experience such an attack first hand!
Other ants are more peaceful farmers. For example, leafcutter ants collect
vegetation to grow nutritious fungus gardens inside their nests. To learn more about
leafcutter ants, check out a leafcutter ant colony. Some ants make a living as ranchers.
They herd plant-sucking insects like livestock and feed on their sweet leftovers. Such
agriculture is a group effort in ants and humans alike.
Ants are very loyal to their own colony, but they can be quite nasty toward
outsiders. Competition among colonies for food and other resources often leads to
aggression. Many species establish a territory around their nest that is off-limits to
neighboring ants. If members of a rival colony invade, all-out war can erupt. Workers
sometimes sting, spray, and/or bite to the death during these battles. Thus, the worst
enemy of ants is other ants, not humans.
4.0 DISANVANTAGES OF ANTS LIVING IN GROUPS
Animals that live in close proximity to one another face higher risks of infection
than do individual animals. Diseases and parasites can be passed between animals
living too closely together, and this can dramatically decrease a group's numbers. Some
animals might die as a direct result of the sickness itself, but latent effects of infection
can come in several forms, such as decreased mobility, making it difficult to escape

from predators, as well as decreased vision and sense of smell, making it harder to find
food.
Large congregations of animals are more susceptible to predation than are small
groups or individuals. While large groups afford a certain amount of security, they can
also make easy targets of themselves by being easy to spot. During attacks, large
groups have difficulty seeking hiding places, and can find their numbers easily
decreased by predators.
The bigger the animal group, the more competitive the hunt for food becomes.
Predators who hunt in large packs or prides tend to expend more energy than needed in
capturing prey, as the element of surprise is not so easy to come by. Predators often
scavenge as a result, and many go hungry. Sizable assemblies of animals put pressure
on food resources, and unequal distribution of food among animals can lead to
increased aggression, starvation, and death.
`In group settings, where there are more males than females , direct, aggressive
competition to find a mate can become the norm. Ritualized fighting and displays of
violence and aggression can ensue before and even after finding a mate. The ultimate
battle here is not necessarily for survival in the strictest sense but in the passing on of
genes and reproductive success.
5.0 CLOSURE
Ants are one of the world's most successful and diverse animal families, with
more than 12,000 species. They are eusocial and known for their highly organized
colonies and nests, which sometimes consist of millions of individuals. Individuals are
divided into sub-fertile, and more commonly sterile, females ("workers"), fertile males
("drones"), and fertile females ("queens"). Colonies can occupy and use a wide area of
land to support themselves. Ant colonies sometimes are described as superorganisms
because the colony appears to operate as a unified entity.

Figure 1: Meat eater ants feeding on honey - social ants cooperate and collectively
gather food.

Figure 2: Fertilized queen ant beginning to dig a new colony

Figure 3: Meat ant nest during swarming

Figure 4: Ant mound holes prevent water from entering the nest during rain

Figure 5: Ant mound holes prevent water from entering the nest during rain

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