Understanding the Amazing Strength of Ants
You’ve seen them on the sidewalk, at the picnic table, and lining up on the wall. Ants are constantly on the go, searching for the next big task to support their day’s mission. Sporting an incredible work ethic, ants also demonstrate amazing strength, lifting objects up to 5,000 times their own weight. This has categorized the ant as one of the strongest living creatures on Earth.
What exactly makes ants so powerful? Let’s examine three key features.
Muscle Power
Much like a bodybuilder, ants are hard workers and spend a lot of time doing heavy lifting. This leads to building intense muscles all over their bodies, making them stronger and primed to keep working.
Compact Bodies
The compact size of an ant works to its advantage. Its tightly formed physique minimizes weakness, helping its neck support more than 50 times its weight. With that kind of strength, imagine what a whole ant colony could accomplish.
Small Size, Big Strength
You may have heard that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. The opposite holds true for the tiny ant, weighing in at a feathery 1 to 5 mg. The smaller they are, the stronger they rise. Even gravity is on their side since there isn’t much to pull down.
The Power of Ants in Large Numbers—the Good and the Bad
If you’ve watched an ant colony go to work, you’ve seen the strength and devoted teamwork it takes to get the job done on a daily basis. One colony can move up to 50 tons of dirt in a single year. That’s the weight of 10 elephants. Ants can even protect their farm by attacking larger insects such as butterflies and beetles.
As remarkable as this sounds, ants in large numbers can be destructive. Fire ants can cause $5 billion a year in structural damage, medical costs, and pest control according to the Food and Drug Administration. Creating even greater damage and expense, carpenter ants chew through wood in homes and businesses. It may go unnoticed at first, but over time, you’ll wish you’d stopped it sooner.
Ants Becoming a Problem?
If you see ants in your home or yard, they could lead to an infestation. Give a pest control professional a call to assess the situation and design a pest control plan for your needs. Vulcan Termite & Pest Control Inc. can take care of any ant problem you have for zero issues down the road.