Four years ago this week, I was walking through an African village in Namibia with my friend, Solveig Kjeseth. We stopped to look at a strange tower formed out of earth. It was about five feet high, crooked in shape, wide at the bottom and coming to a point at the top. I thought it looked like the top of a giant, rumpled witch's hat, only it was gray instead of black. Solveig informed me, much to my surprise, that it was an anthill. I was even more surprised when we came across many more, some of which towered over my head. They were huge! I was amazed that tiny little ants could build such large and interesting houses.

So, I began to do a little ant research. I learned that there are about 10,000 different kinds of ants. They live in very organized communities called colonies. They are f…