Question 1

True or false: Army ants have a king ant that rules the colony alongside the queen.

Accepted Answer

False. Ant colonies have a queen, but never a king. Males are short-lived and die after mating, playing no ruling role.

Question 2

True or false: Army ants are actually a type of beetle, not true ants.

Accepted Answer

False. Army ants are true ants belonging to the family Formicidae. They share ant characteristics like elbowed antennae and a distinct waist, unlike beetles.

Question 3

True or false: Army ants are only found in the Amazon rainforest of South America.

Accepted Answer

False. Army ants inhabit tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, including Africa, Asia, and Central America. They are not restricted to the Amazon.

Question 4

True or false: Army ants only eat other insects and never attack larger animals.

Accepted Answer

False. While they primarily eat insects, army ants can overwhelm and consume small vertebrates like lizards, frogs, and even birds caught in their swarm.

Question 5

True or false: Army ants use their own bodies to form bridges and rafts for crossing gaps and water.

Accepted Answer

True. They link legs and jaws to create living structures, enabling the colony to traverse obstacles or float across water as a cohesive unit.

Question 6

True or false: Army ants build permanent underground nests with multiple chambers.

Accepted Answer

False. Army ants are nomadic and form temporary bivouacs—clusters of their own bodies—instead of constructing permanent nests.

Question 7

True or false: Army ants do not build permanent nests; they form living bivouacs.

Accepted Answer

True. Army ants are nomadic and create temporary nests called bivouacs using their own interlocked bodies, often in hollow logs or under branches.

Question 8

True or false: Army ant colonies can contain over a million individual ants.

Accepted Answer

True. Driver ant colonies (Dorylus) can exceed 20 million individuals, and some Eciton army ant colonies reach around a million. Therefore, it is true that army ant colonies can contain over a million ants.

Question 9

True or false: Army ants are actually blind and rely on scent and touch to navigate and hunt.

Accepted Answer

True. Most army ant species have reduced or absent eyes, so they follow pheromone trails and use antennae to sense their environment.

Question 10

True or false: A single army ant colony can contain over 20 million individuals.

Accepted Answer

True. Some species, like the African driver ant, can have colonies with up to 20 million or more ants in one mobile superorganism.

Question 11

True or false: Army ants can kill and eat a human being if they swarm.

Accepted Answer

False. While army ant swarms can kill small or immobilized animals, healthy humans are not at risk. They may bite but cannot consume a person.

Question 12

True or false: Army ant queens can lay up to 300,000 eggs in a single month.

Accepted Answer

True. The queen of Eciton burchellii can lay about 300,000 eggs per month, a remarkable reproductive output that supports her colony's rapid growth.

Question 13

True or false: Army ants migrate to follow a fixed seasonal calendar regardless of food availability.

Accepted Answer

False. Their migrations are driven by the colony's needs—especially food scarcity and brood development—not by a strict seasonal schedule.

Question 14

True or false: Army ant queens can lay up to 100,000 eggs in a single day.

Accepted Answer

True. Some army ant species' queens are highly fecund, laying up to 100,000 eggs in a day during the stationary phase to support colony numbers.

Question 15

True or false: Army ants are found on every continent except Antarctica.

Accepted Answer

False. Army ants are restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, mainly in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, not in Europe or Australia.

Question 16

True or false: Army ant workers are blind and navigate using chemical trails.

Accepted Answer

True. Most army ant species have greatly reduced eyes or are completely blind. They rely on pheromone trails and touch to move in coordinated raids.

Army Ant Trivia Questions