Study Guide & Preview Questions:
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Approximately how many ants are there worldwide?
Options: Ten thousand trillion, One billion, One trillion, One hundred million
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True or False: The combined weight of all ants on Earth is roughly equal to the weight of all humankind.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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The text states that ants are ubiquitous, meaning they are found ____.
Options: only in tropical regions, only in forests, everywhere, underground
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Ants do NOT thrive in which of the following environments?
Options: Deserts, Rainforests, Icy mountain peaks, Urban gardens
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The estimated number of ant species is over ____.
Options: 2,000, 20,000, 200,000, 2,000,000
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True or False: The ant's incredible success is largely due to its sophisticated social structure.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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The size of an ant colony can vary from a few hundred to tens of ____.
Options: thousands, hundreds, millions, billions
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In an ant colony, the primary role of the queen or queens is to ____.
Options: gather food, defend the nest, reproduce, build tunnels
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True or False: The fertile males in an ant colony live for many years after mating.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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The main population of workers and soldiers in an ant colony is made up of ____ females.
Options: fertile, sterile, young, old
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While humans use sound and sight, ants depend primarily on ____ to communicate.
Options: touch, vibrations, pheromones, dance
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True or False: Pheromones are visual signals emitted by ants.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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Each ant species produces approximately how many different chemical signals (pheromones)?
Options: One to five, Ten to twenty, Fifty to one hundred, Over two hundred
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A foraging ant leaves a pheromone trail to lead others to ____.
Options: a new nest site, water, food, the queen
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True or False: An alarm pheromone is sent out when an ant is dying or under attack.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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The text states that in the art of war, ants are probably ____.
Options: cowardly, unrivaled, strategic but slow, easily defeated
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Ants will readily take on bigger predators by attacking in ____.
Options: small, stealthy squads, large groups, one-on-one combat, night raids only
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True or False: Worker ants are known to sacrifice their own lives for the common good of the colony.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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Ants have flourished on Earth for more than ____ million years.
Options: 14, 140, 1,400, 1.4
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Because ants 'think as one,' they possess a ____ intelligence greater than the sum of individual ants.
Options: collective, primitive, competitive, instinctive
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True or False: The text concludes that people, like ants, always have a collective intelligence greater than the sum of their parts.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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The word 'ubiquitous' in the text is defined as ____.
Options: very small, found everywhere, highly organized, ancient
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Fill in the blank: The text describes ants as behaving in an unselfish and ____-minded way.
Options: colony, community, war, survival
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True or False: All ants in a colony are capable of reproduction.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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What is the main defense mechanism of an ant colony when alerted by an alarm pheromone?
Options: They hide., They mobilize fast as a defense unit., They abandon the nest., They play dead.
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The sterile female ants are responsible for which tasks?
Options: Only nest building, Only food gathering, Only reproduction, Nest building, food gathering, and defense
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True or False: The total number of ant species is known precisely by scientists.
Options: Correct, Incorrect
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Fill in the blank: Ants are completely ____ and will take on bigger predators.
Options: fearless, cautious, selective, nocturnal
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What happens to fertile males shortly after mating with the queen?
Options: They become workers., They leave the colony., They die., They become soldiers.
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True or False: The sophisticated social structure of ants is cited as a key reason for their failure as a species.
Options: Correct, Incorrect