( Latin: , Superfamily Formicoidea)

Ants can be found more or less everywhere. About 3,500 different species have been described, and these are adapted for widely varying conditions. Common to them all, however, is the fact that they are social.

The winged ants frequently seen in the middle of the summer are males and females which come out in swarms for the nuptial flight. The males die soon after mating but each of the mated queens is capable of founding a new colony. The eggs laid by the queen hatch into larvae that develop into worker ants, which fetch food, keep the colony clean and tend the eggs, larvae and pupae.