Ants are one of evolution's great success stories. Arising in the mid-Cretaceous about 120 million years ago, they now comprise a diverse assemblage of approximately 20,000 species and have colonized most of the world's terrestrial biomes. They impose a strong ecological footprint in many communities in their varied roles as scavengers, predators, granivores, and herbivores. In some tropical forests the biomass of ants exceeds that of terrestrial vertebrates by a factor of four, and their soil-turning activities dwarf those of earthworms.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday March 05, @09:51PM
As background reading:
Primer Volume 16, Issue 5 pR152-R155 March 07, 2006 Open Archive, Cell Press: Ants [cell.com]