Want to get rid of ants? They are nature's clean-up crew, scavenging waste and help maintain healthy ecosystem

There are an estimated 20 quadrillion ants alive. In fact, for every human being, there are roughly 2.5 million ants. Each ant colony contains thousands of intrepid workers, but no leader. They are an excellent example of collective behaviour and swarm intelligence, where individuals following relatively simple rules can collectively achieve far more than any individual can alone.

- The Conversation/PTI

The Conversation/PTI SYDNEY: Ants are among nature's greatest success stories, with an estimated 22,000 species worldwide. Tropical Australia in particular is a global hotspot for ant diversity. Some researchers believe it could hold some of the richest ant biodiversity on the planet, with an estimated 5,000 species in the tropics alone.

But if ants are so successful out in nature, why do they so often turn up in our homes and even upper-level apartments? And what can we do to keep them out?

There's probably an ant near you right now Ants dominate the planet in terms of sheer abundance.

At any given moment, there are an estimated 20 quadrillion ants alive — that's 20 followed by 15 zeros. In fact, for every human being, there are roughly 2.5 million ants.

So the short answer to "Why are there ants in my house?" is simply this: there are a lot of ants.

We live on a planet where ants outnumber us by an almost unimaginable margin. The fact that a few occasionally wander into our homes shouldn't come as a surprise.

Ants work from home (yours, that is) Ants owe much of their success to their highly social nature.

Within the colony, some individuals (female queens and male drones) are responsible for reproduction, while others (workers) are busy caring for the young, cleaning or foraging for food. Workers ants are always female. Ant colonies do not have leaders. They are an excellent example of collective behaviour and swarm intelligence, where individuals following relatively simple rules can collectively achieve far more than any individual could alone.