Ellen Pentony, age 12, of Staten Island, New York, for her question:

Do ants hibernate?

During the chilly winter season, there are few if any ants around. But my, how they teem in to pester our summer picnics. What's more, if you could tag them you might meet the same little ant year after year. The life span of the worker ant is seven years, so obviously the little pests must have ways to survive through the winters.

A hibernating creature sinks into a sort of coma, which is deeper than the deepest sleep. As the weather cools, his temperature drops and all his body processes slow down. His heart beat pulses perhaps once in several minutes and his breathing is even slower. He is dead to the world. If you poke him, he pays no attention. This is hibernation in the true sense.

Though the ants adjust their life style to cope with the winter season, they are not true hibernators. Certain other insects do hiber¬nate, either in the egg stage or in the pupa stage, securely sheathed in cozy cocoons or weatherproof chrysalises. But not the ants.

Ants, of course, are insects and all the insects are cold blooded creatures. This is to say, they have no built in thermostats to adjust their body temperatures to warm or cool surroundings. Their tiny bodies are made of living cells and all living cells need a certain amount of warmth to carry on their miraculous chemical activities. With a sudden drop in temperature, the busy ants become slow and logy. However, long before this happens, the ants have taken precautions.

There are at least 15,000 ant species and, as usual each species favors its own life style. They teem in the tropics and inhabit all temperate zones to the brink of the polar regions. All ants are social insects that live in colonies. Most species tunnel family nests in the soil, with elaborate chambers, large and small.

In the average colony, the eggs are produced by a queen mother or perhaps by several queen ants. There may be an army of tough lady soldiers and in summer there are some male drones. All the family chores are done by the busy worker ants. The queens and the workers are busiest during the summer and usually downright hectic in the fall.

Numerous ant species teem in the tropics, where the climate is warm enough for them to keep going all year. But ants of the temperate zones must make winter plans for dining and dodging the cold. Some species are meat eaters, some are vegetarians and others favor a mixed menu. In any case, suitable food is stored to last the family through the winter.

During the summer, the nests of many species include raised ant hills. As winter approaches, the workers tunnel deeper, perhaps five to 15 feet below the surface. The entire colony plus all family operations are moved down to this winter cellar below the frost. Activity is reduced and the family survives on stored rations.

Each species has its own food storage ideas. Harvester ants hoard supplies of grain. Farmer ants move their fungus gardens down to deeper levels. Cornfield ants tote their aphid cows to suitable roots. Come spring, the workers tote them to where they can attack the young corn plants.