I opened the door of the kitchen cupboard to get the peanut butter and saw an ant scampering away. I quickly dispatched the ant. Now I have a problem. If I tell Mary Alice about seeing an ant, she will take everything out of the cupboard and begin scrubbing.

I think I’ll keep quiet since I don’t believe that one ant makes an infestation. Later my problem was solved when Mary Alice opened the cupboard door and saw an ant, she immediately declared war.

She decided to use a liquid ant killer that we had from last year. When I read the small print on the bottle label, I learned what types of ants this liquid killer would dispose of. Those listed were Argentine ants, ghost ants, cornfield ants, payment ants, acrobat ants, white-footed ants, tiny black ants, odorous house ants, crazy ants, big-headed ants and others.

Ants are truly fascinating creatures. There are more than 10,000 known ant species around the world.

It is estimated that there are approximately one million ants for every human on Earth. Ants are common insects, but they have some unique capabilities. They are especially prevalent in tropical forests, where there can be up to half of all the insects living in the world.

Ants appear much like termites and the two are often confused, especially by nervous homeowners. However, ants have a narrow waist between the abdomen and thorax, which termites do not. Ants also have large heads, elbowed antennae and powerful jaws. These insects belong to the order Hymenoptera, which includes wasps and bees.

The Bible tells us “Go to the ant, O sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise.” Ants have always been known for their intelligence and for being industrious. In comparison, a second grader would be able to pick up a car.

This song sung by Frank Sinatra relates to the strength of the ant.

“Just what makes that little old ant;

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant;

Anyone knows an ant can’t move a rubber tree plant;

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes;

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes;

So, any time you’re gettin’ low;

‘Stead of lettin’ go;

Just remember that ant;

Oops! There goes another rubber tree plant.”

An ant colony is made up of three types of ants: queen (a fertile female) and infertile female, which are the workers; soldiers, and the males. The ants seen on sidewalks are usually the workers. In a typical ant colony, the outstanding figure is the queen, who is nothing more than an egg laying machine. The queen only needs to mate once to be able to lay eggs continuously for the remainder of her life, which is approximately 15 years.

The queen is usually mated on a marriage flight, which takes place on a warm summer day, with broods of winged males and females rising into the sky. After mating, the male dies and the mated queen bites off her wings and digs a hole in the ground. Here, she produces the first brood and tends to them until they are mature. As soon as the young are able, they begin caring for the queen and enlarging the nest.

A colony only survives a few months after the queen dies, since queens are rarely replaced, and the workers are unable to reproduce.

The queen and the males have wings, while the workers have none. The queen is the only ant able to lay eggs. The male’s job is to mate with future queen ants. Males have a short life after mating. Male ants play no part in everyday nest activities. They live only for a short time; occur in limited numbers, and are virtual parasites of the colony, which must feed them.

Once the queen grows to adulthood the remainder of her life is spent laying eggs. A colony could have one queen or many queens, depending on the species.

Ant colonies also have soldier ants with the job of protecting the queen; defending the colony; gathering or killing food and attacking enemy colonies searching for nesting space. When another ant colony is defeated, the eggs are taken. After the eggs hatch, the new ants become the slave ants for the colony.

Ants are social insects, and the colony is a family community of which every ant is an integral unit. Apart from the community, any one individual cannot properly function or survive, and the larvae are completely dependent upon the continuous care of the adults. The fertile female, the queen, performs only one task: egg laying.

The life cycle of the ant has four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult, and typically spans a period of 8-10 weeks for worker ants.

Payment ants are the most common ant to enter your home. They can be controlled and the colony eliminated using baits that workers carry back to the nest. Many different types of bait are available to the homeowner in this regard. However, baits containing boric acid are slower acting and do not kill the workers before they have had a chance to share the bait with the queen and developing immature ants.

Place the bait in areas where ants’ activity has been observed and make certain that neither children nor pets can reach them. Maintain sufficient bait to satisfy the colony by replacing when needed. Baiting can take two weeks or longer obtaining control.

Prior to writing this article on ants, I was doing one on flies, and at the time, I thought flies must be our most interesting, however I now believe that ants will get my vote.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.