12 Suolijärvi nature trail information board
Stunning ants:
Ants are known for their power of cooperation. The features of ant cooperation, diligence, division of labour and communication are not much different from human cooperation. You can see the division of labour in the ant society in the cartoon below – but how do ants communicate?
Ants communicate by smell, or more precisely, by pheromones. Pheromones are chemical messengers secreted by animals that allow individuals to influence each other's behaviour. Pheromones are used to mark routes to home and to feeding areas, as well as to mark territory and signal to fellow ants the need to attack or escape.
In the picture:
- The ant colony starts when a queen ant lays eggs and gives birth to her daughters, who become workers.
- The workers perform a wide range of tasks, from building the cave to cleaning it, gathering food, caring for the offspring and defending the nest.
- Unfertilised eggs give birth to moths. The nuptial flight is an event during which the male ants of the nests fly with the future queens to mate.
- The queens who have become fertile start new strokes.
Lost in the forest
By combining different forest signs, you can get help navigating without equipment! Ant sticks
are usually built on the south side of trees and rocks.
Can you find any other clues about cardinal directions in the picture?