Omar :
I first noticed him when I saw his tiny
head emerging from the earth. His head attracted
my attention, as it was a bit bigger than his body. I
wondered why his head was like that and started to
watch this tiny friend of mine. The big head on his
little body was helping him serve as a guard at the
entrance of the nest. Do you want to know 'how?'
He was checking whether the ants that attempted
to enter the nest belonged to his own family or not,
and did not let them in if they were strangers.
Soon after seeing him, I met him and asked him
to tell me what was happening inside. My little friend
understood my curiosity, and started to tell me
about it. What I was wondering most was how the
ants with big heads recognised their nest-mates
and let them in.
The Ant:
Omar, let me first tell you that we
call our families a 'colony.' In other words, we live in
communities called colonies. An ant can easily tell
whether another ant belongs to its own colony or
not. He does it by touching the other ant's body
with his antenna, (thin little rods coming out of the
top of his head) which helps him to distinguish
strangers, thanks to the 'colony scent' they have. If
the ant is a stranger, then we cannot let him into our
home. Moreover, we may even have to use force to
send him away.
1 4
Harun Yahya
