Interesting facts about ants

You may be thinking “what?!” But it’s true, besides humans, ants are the only creatures that will farm other creatures.

Just like we raise cows, sheep, pigs, chicken, and fish in order to obtain a food source, ants will do the same with other insects. The most common occurrence of this is with aphids. Ants will protect aphids from natural predators, and shelter them in their nests from heavy rain showers in order to gain a constant supply of honeydew.

The phrase “a lot” is an understatement when describing the amount of ants currently in existence. To put things in perspective, it is estimated that there are around 1 million ants for every 1 human in the world!

Ants have pretty much conquered the entire globe. With the exception of Antarctica, the Arctic, and a handful of islands, there is at least one native species of ant found on every continent. Entomologist Ted Schultz says that ant presence across the world is “arguably the greatest success story in the history of terrestrial metazoa.“

Ants have specific jobs.
Ants are very social insects, and they divide jobs among different types of ants in each colony. The queen or queens have only one job - to lay eggs. All other female ants are workers; they feed the larvae, take out the colony's trash, forage for food and supplies, or defend the nest. Male ants' only job is to mate with the queen.

Colonies are bigger than the average ant farm.
Ant colonies come in literally all shapes and sizes. A few species live in colonies of only a few dozen ants; however, the average ant colony contains thousands of individual ants. Smaller colonies live in natural crevices or openings while larger colonies create vast nests and forage for supplies and food. There are also super colonies around the world that can contain more than 300 million individuals. These super colonies have been identified in Japan, Australia, the United States, and southern Europe.

They are helpful critters! They often carry other insects from plant to plant. But don’t be fooled, they just want the insects’ nectar!

The soldier ant is, quite literally, a soldier for the Queen. They use their heads to block entrances, stopping intruders from entering the nest.

Ants have superhuman strength!
Yes, you did read that correctly. Ants are ridiculously strong. They have the ability to carry between 10 and 50 times their own body weight! The amount an ant can carry depends on the species. The Asian weaver ant, for example, can lift 100 times its own mass.

Why are ants strong?

This amazing strength is a result of their small size, believe it or not. The Arizona State University reports that because of their small size, ants’ muscles have a greater cross-sectional area relative to their body size compared to larger animals. This means they can produce more force.