Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

i want to control ants and tell them where to go and where not to go
could someone help me and tell me what chemical attracts ants and in what items are those chemicals in

Hi,

Here are sites with information on ant recruitment pheromes:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Fe ... e.hrs.html

http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/pheromones5/ants.html

http://blog.wildaboutants.com/2010/06/2 ... heromones/

This site could be quite useful, though you may need a fair bit of background information to get much out of it:

http://www.pherobase.com/

Look at hit 2 of this book excerpt:

http://books.google.com/books?id=i9ITMi ... nes&f=true

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... x/abstract

See result 13 (Table 7-6) of his Review/excerpt of The Ants by Bert Holldobler and Edward O Wilon:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ljxV4h ... nes&f=true


This article may be of significant help - try accessing it through your local library or your nearest university library rather than paying the fee for online access:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 0608600387


Check out these Science Buddies project ideas on ant communication and the cited bibliography links:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p016.shtml

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p026.shtml

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p025.shtml

http://www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-5/7-moody.pdf

If you want more specific information I think you will have to specialize into a specific species of ants, as the pheromones are quite specific for each ant type. This could be a really fascinating topic.

Good luck with the project and have fun!!!

Best regards,

Barrett L Tomlinson

how can i identify what species they are? it's because i caught them from my backyard

Hi,

Here are some ant identification resources. If you can’t identify them from these your best bet is to contact your local county agricultural extension agent.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/ants/

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/ANTKEY/antid2.html

http://www.antinstitute.com/content/ant-profiles.asp

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/muelleru/AntO ... index.html

http://www.backedbybayer.com/bayer/crop ... _Guide.pdf

http://www.acad.carleton.edu/curricular ... guide.html

http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?search=Formicidae

http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/co ... ation/2900

http://www.tightloop.com/ants/links.php

You have not indicated where you live. Each of the above sites specializes in ants of a local region. I would survey them quickly to find one that talks about your specific area and not waste much time on sites that are not relevant to you. There are an astounding number of different types of ants, ehich is part of what makes them so interesting.

Good luck!

Barreett L Tomlinson

do ants get aggressive when close to spiders?

Hi,

Some ants eat spiders:

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse004/inse004.htm

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 324AASj2CA


Many spiders will eat ants, so ants may become aggressively defensive if they sense a threat to their nest:

http://books.google.com/books?id=AxSotc ... RS&f=false

Check your local library for this book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ljxV4h ... nes&f=true

My library has it for general circulation, and it will answer more questions than you can imagine about ants and their behaviors, along with citations to the scientific literature for most everything.

Best regards,

Barrett L Tomlinson