In the Bible the tiny ant is a symbol for wisdom and hard work because of its ability to survive even the harshest conditions. The Bible mentions the ant twice, both times in the Book of Proverbs. "Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6). And later the ant is praised for its wisdom (Prov 30:24-35).
Ants live together in large colonies organized under one powerful female ant, known as the queen. Ants usually nest in soil or wood, and a single ant colony may contain as many as 20 million individual ants. Most of these ants are female; only a few male ants are produced to mate with the queen.
One of the most unusual things about ants is their ability to communicate. Signaling each other with distinctive hormones, ants work together to build and move their nests, care for the young, and find food. Ants sometimes battle other ant colonies, and they even capture other ants and enslave them. One species of ant grows its own food in underground fungus gardens.
The ants mentioned in the Bible are said to gather their food in summer, suggesting that they are harvester ants. One of several kinds of ant found in the Holy Land, harvester ants gather seeds in early summer before the heat of the season. Sometimes, harvester ants devastate farmland and grazing areas by stripping them of vegetation.
Fascinating fact:
There are more than 5,000 species of ants found throughout the world.
