Question

5) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that

follow:

An important reason for ants’ success is their ability to talk- not with words but

with tastes and smell. Their vocabulary is made up of a mixture of substances they

produce in various parts of their bodies and emit via are their glands. The so-

called phenomenes are signals that other ants can smell and taste. The messages

they communicate set off a specific kind of behaviour: fetching food for instance,

or looking after the brood or feeding the queen. Furthermore, ant- talk is not

limited to food. Ants use a hundred different scents to communicate a hundred

different messages. With such a sophisticated array of messenger fragrances, ants

organize complicated tasks with close to perfect efficiency.

Every ant is a specialist with a vocation of its own. The queen has one of the

biggest workloads- laying eggs round the clock. Despite the presence of a queen,

an ant colony is not a monarchy. The word ‘queen’ is actually a misnomer. “She

doesn't reign over the others,” says Holldobler, “She is a machine for laying eggs.”

From morning till night she produces her daughters, the sterile workers of the

colony. Males don't have to do much and the queen only produces them when

reproduction time is approaching. Their main job is to fertilize the winged females.

After that they die.

Messengers don't have much free time either. When you see a handful of ants

scurrying around in the kitchen without any apparent purpose, it doesn't mean

they’ve lost their bearings. They’re scouts foraging for food. Once they’ve found

something edible, they report back to base, depositing their chemical spores on the

way. “Food located, please collect,” is the taste and smell message for other

members back at the nest.pVery soon, long chains of nest ferrying food which they hand over to ants who

specialize in housekeeping. The duties of these ants include keeping the nest in

good order and cleaning and feeding the queen.

Jet ants settle in hollow trees where they build papery structures to live in. In these

trees they keep herds of greenflies which they actually milk in the same way we

milk cows. It’s a model partnership. To satisfy their need for amino acids, the

greenflies have to ingest large quantities of sap. As a result, surplus sugar forms in

their bodies which they excrete through their rear ends. This so-called honeydew is

the jet ant’s main source of nourishment. In return, the ants see to it that the

greenflies don't get stuck fast in their own honey and also protect their herds from

marauding predators such as ladybirds. “It’s a form of dairy farming,” says

Holldobler.

Denying is only one of the many ingenious ideas ants have come up with in the

course of evolution. Small red wood ants, for example, regulate the temperature in

their high rise anthills by sunbathing on warm spring days and then scuttling back

to the next double quick to give off the warmth they’ve soaked up.

An ant colony, Holldobler says, is an almost perfectly organised network of equal

status elements complementing one another in all they do .Ants will do anything as

long as it's in the service of the common weal. “May be socialism does work after

all under certain circumstances,” Holldobler grins. “Karl Marx just had the wrong

species in mind.”

a) Give the meaning of the following word used in the passage. One word

answers or short phrases will be accepted. (2)

i) array

ii) scurrying

iii)foraging

iv)ingenious

b) Answer briefly the following questions in your own words:

i) Why is the word ‘queen’ a misnomer? (1)

ii)When do the chains of worker ants move about in a hurry? (1)

iii)What is referred to as ‘milk’ from the greenflies? (1)

iv) What do the green flies receive in return for giving milk to the ants?(1)

v) What does Holldobler wish to communicate by this sentence “Karl

Marx just had the wrong species in mind.” (1)

c) In not more than 50 words state how the ants work in a well organised

manner (3)​

Answer 1

Answer:

how do the ants communicate among themselves

Answer 2

Answer:

1. Meaning

1. array: arranging or constructing things in a systematic way. For eg: how ants walk in a line
2. scurrying: to be in a hurry and covering the distance in mostly short steps
3. foraging: going to hunt or search for food
4. ingenious: creative and clever

2. Brief Answers:

1. Misnomer are the words which are inappropriately designated to a thing even though the real scenario and the meaning of the word is entirely different. Therefore, 'queen' is a misnomer since queen means a lady which rules over a set of population however here it means someone who lays eggs to maintain the population.
2. The chain of workers move in a hurry when they are out searching for food. As soon as they find food, they release their scent for other ants to follow and find the food.
3. 'Milk' is the honeydew produced by the greenflies. When greenflies ingest sap to satisfy their need for amino acids. the surplus is release in sugar form know as honeydew and end up acting like mil for Jet Ants.
4. In exchange of the so-called milk, the ants ensure that the greenflies don't get stuck in their own honey and ensure that ladybirds do not be predators to their herds.

3. Ants do work in an extremely organized manner few of which instances are mentioned. Firstly, they are always moving in a an array and releasing different scent with different purpose. Secondly, the purpose of the queen, male ants and other female ants are very distinct and everyone knows their responsibility. Third, when they get honeydew from the greenflies they also ensure their protection which takes form of a proper deal.

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Explanation: