Ants are tiny, but together they build cities underground, farm fungus and form living bridges. These riddles explore how an ant colony works, from the queen to the workers, and some of the most surprising ants on the planet.
Every riddle has a different answer, so you will learn about pheromones, aphids, army ants and the scientist known as the ant man.
Easy Ant Riddles for Kids
- I am tiny but strong, and I live with thousands of my sisters in a colony. What am I? 👉 An ant
- I am the big ant that lays all the eggs in the colony. Who am I? 👉 The queen
- We are the female ants who gather food, build and look after the young. Who are we? 👉 Workers
- I am a mound of soil with tunnels underneath where ants live. What am I? 👉 An anthill
- Ants follow trails of these invisible scent signals. What are they? 👉 Pheromones
- Ants march toward me when I am spilled on the kitchen floor. What am I? 👉 Sugar
- I have a long sticky tongue, and I slurp up ants for dinner. What am I? 👉 An anteater
- I am a baby ant that looks like a small white worm. What am I? 👉 A larva
- I am the resting stage between larva and adult ant. What am I? 👉 A pupa
- On warm days, young queens and males leave the nest with wings. What are they called? 👉 Flying ants
- In Aesop’s fable, the hardworking ant stores food while I sing all summer. What am I? 👉 The grasshopper
- I am a thin glass box where you can watch ants dig tunnels. What am I? 👉 An ant farm
Ant Fact Riddles
These riddles are based on real ant science. The note after each answer explains it.
- Some ants can carry this many times their own body weight. How many? 👉 Up to about 50 times
- We cut leaves and carry them home to grow fungus for food. What are we? 👉 Leafcutter ants
- Some ants protect these tiny insects and “milk” them for a sweet liquid called honeydew. What are they? 👉 Aphids
- We are red ants with a painful, burning sting. What are we? 👉 Fire ants
- We never build a permanent nest and link our bodies together to make living bridges. What are we? 👉 Army ants
- One supercolony of these ants stretches about 6,000 km along the coast of southern Europe. What are they? 👉 Argentine ants
- A 2022 study estimated that about this many ants live on Earth. How many? 👉 About 20 quadrillion
- I was a famous biologist nicknamed “the ant man” for my lifelong study of ants. Who am I? 👉 E. O. Wilson
Funny Ant Riddles
- What do you call a very old ant? 👉 An antique
- Why do ants rarely get sick? 👉 They have tiny anty-bodies
Ant Brain Teasers
- An ant colony has 1 queen and 5,000 workers. How many ants is that? 👉 5,001
- An ant walks 3 cm every second. How far does it walk in a minute? 👉 180 cm
- Two ants are in front of an ant, two ants are behind an ant and one ant is in the middle. What is the smallest number of ants there could be? 👉 3
- How many legs do 10 ants have? 👉 60
Want more riddles? Browse our blog for more collections, and if you spot a mistake in any answer, let us know on our Contact page.