- published: 10 Nov 2014
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Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae ( /fɔrˈmɪsɨdiː/) and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist.
Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies which may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals. These larger colonies consist mostly of sterile wingless females forming castes of "workers", "soldiers", or other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" and one or more fertile females called "queens". The colonies are sometimes described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.
Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard, 3 November 1954, Marylebone, London) is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s. Ant was also a star in America where he not only scored a string of hit singles and albums, but was once voted sexiest man in America by the viewers of MTV. He is also an actor, having appeared in over two dozen films or television episodes between 1985 and 2003.
Since 2010, Ant has undertaken a major reactivation of his musical career, performing live regularly in his hometown London and beyond, recording a new album and with two full-length UK national tours now completed and a US national tour now scheduled. His present comeback continues and thrives despite concerns about such activities being merely another symptom of the mental health issues which were in considerable part responsible for his lengthy spell of near-inactivity spanning the late 1990s and 2000s.