All About Biggest Ant
Among these wide varieties of ants, one ant grabbed the title of the biggest ant in the world, i.e., DINOPONERA.
Dinoponera, the giant ant classified under the Ponerine subfamily. These species are also known as other common names include giant Amazon ants and tocandiras.
Though these giant ants are less popular than Paraponera clavata, the bullet ant is still known as the biggest ant in the world because of its body length of 3 – 4 cm (1.2 – 1.6 in).
Did you know?
Ants don’t have lungs.
They breathe in oxygen through spiracles which are located on the sides of their bodies.
Scientific Classification of Dinoponera
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Arthropoda
Class – Insecta
Order – Hymenoptera
Family – Formicidae
Subfamily – Ponerinae
Tribe – Ponerini
Genus – Dinoponera
Ants don’t have ears.
They use the vibrations in the ground to hear.
Incredible Facts about the Biggest Ant
FACT 1. Dinoponera (giant ants) are known as PIATA in many Tucanoan languages spoken in Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru.
FACT 2. The female Dinoponera queen driver ants can grow around 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 inches).
FACT 3. Dinoponera is strictly a South American genus; therefore, they can only be found in the South American regions. These giant ants are mostly found in the montane rainforest, which is located on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia to savannah and lowland rainforest in Brazil, Guyana, Paraguay, and Argentina.
FACT 4. The biggest ant usually lives in nests located at the basis of trees up to 16 inches deep their anthill which is divided into different chambers.
FACT 5. The colony of these largest ants has approximately 70–96 workers, though colony size varies among species.
FACT 6. The giant ant, Dinoponera, possesses a potent sting that can cause severe pain lasting up to 48 hours.
FACT 7. The venom of Dinoponera could be helpful in the pharmaceutical industry. The people of northeast Brazil uses dry crushed Dinoponera quadriceps ants to treat earaches, and the stings of live ants are administered for back pain and rheumatism source.
FACT 8. Forager go approximately 10 meters away from Nest in search of food (seed, fruits, and live prey) between dawn and dusk.
Ant FAQs
What is the biggest ant in the world?
Dinoponera is the biggest ant in the world which can reach lengths of 3 to 4 centimeters in length.
How many ant species are in the world?
More than 12,000 known ant species are found almost everywhere on the planet except Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, and some island nations.
What’s the smallest ant in the world?
The pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) is the smallest ant in the world which is 2 mm long. source
Reference sources:
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Ants
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Dinoponera