The followingoutline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ants:
Ants –social insects with geniculate (elbowed)antennae and a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist. Ants are of the family Formicidae andevolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago, diversifying after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 out of an estimated total of 22,000species have been classified.