Ants

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 a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist.

Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies which may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals. These larger colonies consist mostly of sterile wingless females forming castes of "workers", "soldiers", or other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" and one or more fertile females called "queens". The colonies are sometimes described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.

Ants were prominently featured in the 1954 sci-fi/horror film Them!, in which a colony of ants grow to enormous size as a result of being irradiated with atomic radiation in Alamagordo, New Mexico.

The giant ant theme was revisited in the 1977 film Empire of the Ants, which was loosely based on the 1905 short story by H.G. Wells. The plot involves a group of prospective land buyers led by Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins), who wind up battling giant, mutated ants.