Human Culture and Ants

Culture consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies, and symbols. Every human society has its own particular culture, or sociocultural system. Variation among cultures is attributable to such factors as differing physical habitats and resources; the range of possibilities inherent in areas such as language, ritual, and social organization; and historical phenomena such as the development of links with other cultures. An individual's attitudes, values, ideals, and beliefs are greatly influenced by the culture (or cultures) in which he or she lives. How does all this relate to ants? With few exceptions human societies exist in places where ants are a dominant element of our surroundings. We are all aware of ants. They have influenced human culture in the past and present. Biblical references to the industriousness of ants, the creation stories of the Navajo, and ads that state how an exterminator can destroy "all those colonies of unwanted ants" are but some of the examples of how our interactions with ants may be explored in this area of the Antwiki.

For information relating to interactions between non-human species and ants, please refer to Ants in the Natural World.

Pest Control

 * Ants as Pests


 * Invasive ants


 * Ants that control other pests (Ants as predators of forest pests; Ants to control citrus pests in China)

Literature


There is an extensive literature on ants, going back as far as proverbs, Aesop's Fables, Darwin, and up to the present day. We have separated this literature into the categories of non-fiction, fiction, poems, children's books and comic books. Books are often written with either the layman or the academic in mind and we have noted this difference in the comment section of the table of non-fiction books.


 * Non-fiction Books on Ants


 * Fiction Books on Ants


 * Poems


 * Children's Books


 * Comics

Food

 * Regions where ants may be considered a delicacy
 * Menu's listing ants
 * Nutritional value of ants as food

Ants and Medicine

 * Bites and stings
 * Diseases
 * Medicinal value
 * Medical cases involving ants

Ants and the Law

 * Legal disputes involving ants
 * Forensic medicine

Music
The children songs The Ants Go Marching One By One and The Animals Went in Two by Two ('Into the Ark') re-used the tune and the refrain from When Johnny Comes Marching Home, a civil war song popular by both sides.
 * "The ants go marching..."

Art



 * Ants on Stamps



Movies and Television
''"Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors." - Constantin Stanislavski (attributed)''

Ants may be the smallest actors out there, but their influence and presence in movies and television is large. And sometimes, it's the ants who are in charge.


 * Nature films, animation, science fiction