Jon & the ants.

We deliver meals on wheels.

Meals on Wheels delivery:

It is Wednesday and it is my turn to deliver meals to our needy community.

Eleven-year-old, Jon is my helper. I drive and he accompanies me.

We knock at the resident’s front door & announce our intentions.

On this day, the lady with a walker opens the door. She is happy & thanks us for the food.

She asks if Jon could place the meal on the counter.

It is a small apartment. A combined den & kitchen in one room.

I watch Jon, placing the meal on the counter & notice him vigorously slapping & wiping the countertop with his free hand, before setting the food on the counter.

Then as he exits the area, he says to the lady.

“Ms. Emma you better eat your meal right now, else the critters at the counter will devour it. I killed some but others keep coming through the crevice.”

Ms. Emma agrees & sits on her walker seat near the counter to eat.

We close her door & leave the lady to enjoy her meal.

Back in the car, once Jon is buckled in his seat. I ask him what kind of critters he killed.

“Ants ma’am, lots of ants!”

“Were they, household ants, carpenter ants, or army ants,” I ask.

With a serious face, Jon, says:

“Definitely not army ants because they had no guns, helmets or ammunition.”

Silly boy! We laughed & drove off to the next house.

After our deliveries, we had a meal & Jon told me what he knew about household pests.

His dad worked for Orkin, servicing many homes for pest control.

Jon says:

“They call a group of ants a colony or an army.

Groups of ants have a queen & many workers that look for food & care for the queen & her offspring.

Soldier ants protect the colony.

Flying ants are new ants leaving the nest to start new colonies.

Termites are different to ants since they feed on wood & decaying plants.”

“Thank you, Jon. I learned from you.”

I am interested and have done a little research about ants.

Research from Nature 2022 & Sciencealert.com reveals that our planet Earth harbors 20 quadrillion ants!

Scientists have named 15,700 species.

I quote a few names of ants from the literature:

• Odorous house ant.
• Pharoah ant.
• Yellow crazy ant.
• Red imported fire ant.
• Acrobat ant.
• Banded sugar ant.
• Bullet ant.
• Solenopsis molesta.

There are many more interesting names.

Ants are a crucial part of nature.

• They aerate the soil.
• Disperse seeds.
• Breakdown of organic material.
• Create habitat for other animals and form an essential part of the food chain.
• Ants have a high degree of social organization which enables them to colonize nearly all ecosystems & regions around the world.

Source: ttps://www.sciencealert.com/how-many-ants-live-on-earth-scientists-came-up-with-an-answer

Thank you, readers, for your time. Jon perked my interest to learn more about ants. Thank you, Jon — I know you will read this article.

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