Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the
related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in
the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and
130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They
are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and distinctive node-like
structure that forms a slender waist.
An ant can lift
20 times its own body weight. Ants don’t have ears. Ants “hear” by feeling vibrations in the ground through
their feet. When ants fight, it is usually to the death. Ants do help the
environment. They are social insects , which mean they live in large colonies
or group. Depending on the species, ant colonies can consist of millions of
ants.
There are three
kinds of ants in a colony : the queen, the female workers and males. The queen
and the males have wings, while the workers don’t have wings. The queen is the
only ant that can lay eggs. The male ant’s job is to mate with future queen
ants and they do not live very long afterwards. Once the queen grows to
adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs! Depending on their
species, a colony may have one queen or many queens. Some queen ants can live
for many years and have millions of babies!
Ant colonies
also have soldier ants that protect the queen, defend the colony, gather or
kill food, and attack enemy colonies in search for food and nesting space. If
they defeat another ant colony, they take away eggs of the defeated ant colony.
When the eggs hatch, the new ants become the “slave” ants for the colony. Some
job of the colony include taking care of the eggs and babies, gathering food
for the colony and building the anthill or mounds.
1.
The new ants have the same job as the soldier ants; it is … .
A.
protecting the queen
B.
gathering food for the colony
C.
taking away eggs of the colony
D.
taking care of the eggs and babies
2.
From the text we can conclude that … .
A.
ant is a strong animal
B.
ants’ habitat is in our house
C.
male ant can live longer than female
D.
a colony always has more than one queen
3.
What is paragraph 3 about ?
A.
Kinds of ants in a colony.
B.
The feature of the ants.
C.
The queen’s job.
D.
The male’s job.
4.
The underlined word in “ If they defeat another ant colony
…” means … .
A. beat
B. drop
C. lose
D. mislay
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar