Live Science gives us an exclusive peek into National Geographic’s A Real Bug’s Life series with a short clip showing how an entire colony of fire ants, living near a Texas backyard with a swimming pool, banded together to create a makeshift raft to save their queen.
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Ants are quite resilient creatures. No matter what happens to them, they will get back up and work, or if ever any threats approached them, they will defend their colony and queen at the risk of their lives. In that sense, they’re almost like cockroaches except less creepy and more communal.
How they were able to achieve the feat of surviving this water calamity (from their perspective) is astounding. With the help of a phenomenon called the “Cheerios effect”, these ants were able to clump together and ride the water. They locked their legs and mandibles, and used trapped air bubbles on the water to keep themselves afloat.
Ants can usually carry 10 to 50 times their own weight. The structure that they created can apparently withstand 400 times their body weight and stay afloat for 12 days. In the specific situation captured in the episode, the ants were able to land safely with the help of a pool noodle. – via The Daily Grail
(Image credit: National Geographic/Disney+/A Real Bug’s Life)
Source: neatorama