Honeypot Ants Turn Their Biggest Sisters into Jugs of Nectar
From Deep Look
5 min3rd4th5th6thScience
Summary
Some honeypot ants become living storage jars — their sisters feed them until their bellies swell with nectar to share in hard times. Deep Look reveals how the colony survives dry seasons by working as one.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
In a honeypot ant colony, some ants become living food-storage tanks for the whole group. Sharing and storing food together helps the colony make it through times when food is scarce.
- How does a honeypot ant colony store food for hard times?
- Why does it help the whole colony for some ants to hold food for others?
- What might happen to a colony that couldn't store food together?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: colony, store, nectar, group.
Try it: Think of a way your class shares or saves something for later. Write how the honeypot ants do the same for the colony.