Why do ants live together Ants live and work together to help one another survive and thrive An ant nest is called a colony and female ants are in charge They each have a role to play The queen lays the eggs sometimes millions of them over her lifetime The workers who are all female find food clean or look after baby ants As the colony grows workers also add new rooms to the nest nurseries pantries even rooms for themselves to take a well-earned rest Nursery where baby ants are looked after Fire ants weave themselves together to make a life raft in order to escape flooding 8 Space for a nice nap
WHO KNOWS Ants protect some plants from diseases by releasing a disease killing substance Scientists aren’t yet sure exactly how this special ant medicine works Ants pantry where food is stored Queen’s room Digging more rooms 9
10
Why do spiders make webs Many spiders make webs to catch spider dinners They build their webs in places where there are lots of juicy insects flying around As soon as an insect gets tangled a spider will rush over and inject its prey with a special venom which stops the insect from moving The spider then wraps its meal with spider silk so it’s ready to eat later on WACKY FACT Some spiders use their silk to fly It’s called ballooning They release trails of silk that catch the breeze taking the spider wherever the wind blows Spiders use their back legs to pull silk from special openings on their undersides called spinnerets
