This is an excerpt from SimAnt User's Manual by Michael Bremer, copyright 1991 by Maxis, Orinda, CA. This is from page 80 of the manual. Much of this part of the manual is rather interesting as the author finds parallels to human society.

Ants live everywhere on earth except the coldest and highest spots on the planet. They live in deserts, jungles, swamps, cities, mountains, boats, airplanes and houses - there is even a recently discovered species of ant that only lives in government buildings in Washington, DC. (Pheidole fullerae)

Ants are amazing little creatures that do things you may have thought only humans do like

o dairy farming: keeping herds of aphids as "cows" and "milking" them for food;
o vegetable farming: growing underground gardens for nourishment,
o career specialization: often changing careers a few times in their lifetime;
o childcare: taking care of their young by protecting and feeding them; and
o education: older, more experienced ants work with the younger ants, teaching them the tricks of the trade.

Ants also do things you wish humans wouldn't, like living in a constant state of war with other ants and enslaving other ants, making them work and even fight for their masters.

They also do things you hope no humans would do including eating dead enemies after a battle, even the enemies' eggs and babies and eating their own old and weak and even their own eggs during times of food shortages.

This is a quote from Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell (from the page 152 of the SimAnt User's Manual):

Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungus, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, and exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.

This is a quote from Kevin Kelly (from the page 152 of the SimAnt User's Manual):

The biology of ants is about the history of societies and institutions and about the future of cities and computers.

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created - April 2001
last change - 4/05/2001