Wonders of the natural world: the ant

Feb 28, 2006 14:56

Ants are classified as a family, Formicidae, belonging to the order Hymenoptera which also includes sawflies, bees and wasps. At the last count, there were 43 trillion ants in the world. Ants have colonized almost every landmass on Earth and can constitute up to 15% of the total animal biomass of a tropical rainforest. Typically they will also constitute at least 99% of the total animal biomass found underneath patios.

Despite their size (most ants are quite small - more on this later) ants are capable of some amazing feats:

- Ants are able to communicate with each other by fashioning tiny flutes from pieces of grass. It's a common misconception that the songs played on these flutes are inaudible to the human ear - in fact, they are perfectly audible, but the songs sound exactly like dogs barking in the distance.

- Ants are also phenomenally strong (in a relative, rather than an absolute sense, of course). The average ant is able to lift objects that are 20 times heavier than itself - a small pebble, for example. This means that, if a colony of 40,000 ants descended upon the average driveway with the intention of denuding it of gravel, they could accomplish the feat within three minutes. The inadvertent introduction of the Brazilian gravel-clearing ant to North America has cost homeowners an estimated $2.4 million in the last three years. On a more positive note, gravel quarrying companies have seen profits soar by around the same amount.

- Ants can run very quickly. If a man could run as fast - for his size - as an ant can, he would be able to run as fast as a racehorse. Just imagine how fast an ant could run if it was the same size as a racehorse! Of course, any races involving horse-sized ants would be largely pointless because the technical challenges involved in developing saddles and harnesses for these creatures are insurmountable.

- Most ants are much, much smaller than racehorses. A rare species of giant ant which once threatened to exterminate all human life was thankfully wiped out in the 1950s (although not before many people came to a very gruesome end indeed):



- Today, humans and ants live in harmony. Each species has, over time, largely got used to the idiosyncrasies of the other and views these differences as something quaint and endearing.
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