Are Ants Strong?
People have always heard of the fact that Ants are super strong and that they can carry a ton of weight right? But, based on research, they can carry a lot more than you realized. Ants have been one of the most interesting insects in the world, due to the fact that they can carry more than their body weight. How much they carry can vary on different factors such as the type of ant they are.
One reason why ants are the way they are is because of their surface area. As said by Ants.com, “The surface area of an ant is much smaller than its volume, which means the ant’s muscles don’t have to expend as much energy carrying its body around.
This makes it much easier for an ant to lift objects that are larger and heavier than it is.” What this also means is that if they were to ever grow to about our size or just bigger than their normal size, they would not have the same strength they would at their normal size.
So, in general terms, the smaller the ant and the smaller the proportion of his surface area, the larger and the more amount of weight the ant can carry.
Aside from the amount of weight that ants carry, they also have the tremendous ability to carry a huge amount of static weight. Previous studies showed the ants could carry up to 1,000 times their own weight. To put that into comparison with a human, the average human weighs about 137 pounds. Meaning that if we had the strength of an ant, we could carry up to 137,000 pounds.
Although, new studies have come about ants and prove that they can carry an even greater amount. Research shows that ants can actually carry up to 5,000 times their weight, according to ants.com. Putting that into human comparison, that’s about 750,000 pounds! That’s insane. The reason for these little guy’s amazing strength is because of the bumps that they have on their necks. It allows them to disperse the weight evenly across their whole neck. Without these structures, they would not have the super strength that they have today.
An ant’s strength can also vary depending on the type of ant as well. Talking about raw power, then the leafcutter ant is the strongest out of any ant. They can lift about 50 times their own weight. That may not sound too impressive, but the way they can lift that kind of weight is impressive. Unlike other ants who carry items with their limbs and backs, the leafcutter uses their jaw to carry the weight. If a human had the strength that the leafcutter ant had, they could pick a car only using their teeth.
When asking about ants’ strength most people only hear that they are strong and can carry their body weight in strength. If they underestimate ants anymore, they’ll wake up one day being carried by a whole hill of ants and all their food combined.
