Where Does Ants Sleep?

Whether ants sleep depends on their species and activity levels. While some ants are strictly nocturnal, others are active in the daytime. Despite their varied activity patterns, they all sleep at some point.

Workers may take 250 one-minute naps a day, while queens may sleep for up to nine hours a day. These naps may or may not be necessary to sustain their body’s needs.

There are a number of studies that have looked at ants’ sleeping habits. In general, they will sleep where they feel safe. They will often choose nests to sleep in and will sleep with their antennae pulled in. They may also dig deeper burrows to stay warmer.

In general, ants sleep for four hours and 48 minutes a day. This may sound like a lot, but it isn’t. In fact, worker ants tend to burn out after a year. They will often take irregular intervals of rest and take advantage of quiet periods.

The length of ant sleep varies between species and within colonies. The ant’s biological clock is thought to govern its lapse in sleep.

Although most insects don’t make their own internal heat, some ants have a nifty trick. They’re able to use decomposing plant matter to generate heat. This heat is trapped in the rocks around them and radiates back to the ants.

When queens sleep, they’re usually buried in their nest. They’ll lay up to 300,000 eggs a day. They’re a key part of the colony’s survival. They’re known to be extremely hard to replace.