Almost everyone had an encounter with these scurrying pests inside and around your home. Yes, we are talking about ants.
With around more than ten thousand ant species globally, these pesky pests are a subject of constant study by scientists.
Ants are truly fascinating creatures in this world. Don’t believe us?
Let’s understand the ten most interesting facts about ants.
Ants have superhuman strength:
Do ants have superhuman strength? Yes, you read it correctly. Ants can lift massive weights to fifty times the mass of their own. The amount of weight carried by an ant largely depends upon the types of ant species.
How is it possible?
The ants’ muscles have a greater cross-sectional area as compared to other animals. Thus, they can produce more force and strength.
Ants don’t have lungs:
Ants are tiny in size. They do not have the room to accommodate the complex respiratory systems such as lungs to breathe.
How do they breathe?
Ants transport the oxygen with the help of spiracles on the sides of their bodies. These spiracles are connected with the tubes of every cell, helping the ants to breathe.
Ants don’t have ears:
Ants do not have ears. Does that mean ants are deaf?
How do ants hear?
Ants pick the vibrations from the ground in the subgenual organ located below the knee. It helps them to get the alarm signal or uses it while foraging for food.
There are lots of ants in the world:
We have estimated that there are around one million ants for every human in the world. Ants have conquered the entire globe, with certain exceptions, such as Antarctica, the Arctic, and some other islands.
Some ants have gone asexual:
Rather than following the traditional mating procedure with male ants, some female ants have reproduced with cloning. The queen ants copy themselves to produce genetically daughters and a colony with no male ants.
Ants are farmers:
How is this possible? Ants will farm just like other insects. The most common occurrence is with aphids.
Ants protect aphids from natural predators. They provide shelter from heavy rain showers to get a supply of honeydew.
Ants have two stomachs:
Ants are not foodie like humans. They have two stomachs. One is used to hold food for their consumption, and the other is to share food with other ants.
The process is known as trophallaxis and allows the ant colonies to work efficiently.
Ants can swim:
Not all ants can swim. It depends upon the ants’ species. They have their version of a doggy paddle to survive in the water. Not only these ants are the good survivors but also builds lifeboat to tackle the flood.
Ants are slave makers:
Some species of ants, such as Polyergus Lucidus, are slave-making ants. These ant species invade the neighboring ant colony and make them slaves.
Ants are as old as dinosaurs:
According to the study, ants first rose in the Cretaceous period around 130 million years ago where dinosaurs used to survive.
Wrapping up:
Isn’t these facts are interesting? We rarely knew about the above truth. Though we are mesmerized with the ants’ ability, these pests are annoying and infest your home. If you want to remove the ant infestation, immediately call the pest control professionals.