There are countless creatures living in the world. Some of them are huge, some are tiny. Some are about to become extinct, while others even bury us. The ant is one of the creatures with an incredible population despite its small size. Ants, which can live almost anywhere in the world with many different species, have much more interesting features than we thought.
Of course, most of us do not know enough about the ant, a creature whose king we could crush if it came. We even try our best to destroy them when we see them in our house. But rest assured, once you learn some of the features of ants and take a closer look at the ant world, you will want to sit down and watch what they do for hours every time you see them, let alone crush them.
Unusual information you will hear about the ant world for the first time:
- Yes, the weight bearing myth is true.
- Ants do not breathe as we know them.
- Ants don’t have ears, but they somehow manage to hear.
- There are many, many ants in the world.
- Ants can reproduce without mating.
- Ants are engaged in animal husbandry.
- They have two stomachs with different functions.
- Ants are great swimmers.
- Slavery still exists in the ant world.
- There were ants even before the dinosaurs.
Yes, the weight-bearing myth is true:
The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to an ant is that it can carry hundreds of times its weight. This information is partially correct. An ant can easily lift 10, 50, and even 100 times its own weight. The reason ants are so powerful is because they are small. Unlike other animals, the small muscles of ants have a cross-sectional area. Therefore, their muscles are extremely strong.
Ants do not breathe as we know them:
Of course, ants, like all living things, cannot live without oxygen, that is, without breathing. Interestingly, however, they do not have a lung system because, as you can imagine, their tiny bodies do not have the necessary space for this system. Fine, but if you ask how they breathe, the answer lies in their unique systems. Spiral-like holes on the side of the ants’ body draw oxygen into the body and distribute it to all cells through a special network of tubes. The released carbon dioxide also comes out through the same holes.
Ants don’t have ears, but they somehow manage to hear:
If you have seen an ant in a close-up, you must have noticed that it has no ears. You might think ants are deaf if they don’t have ears, but that’s not true. Just like breathing systems, they have their own unique system for hearing. In one joint of ants, there is a structure called the subgenual organ. This structure allows the ants to perceive vibrations. Of course, this vibration means sound to them. Although it may seem like a simple system, it actually allows ants to hear wonderfully.
There are many, many ants in the world:
O humanity that thinks it has command of the world, where did you go and you didn’t see an ant there? Ants live everywhere you can think of, except Antarctica, the North Pole and a few islands. There are more than 10 thousand species of ants identified to date. The prevalence of ants is considered an evolutionary achievement. So how many ants are there in the world? Of course, it is impossible to know this number. According to some estimates, more than 20 quadrillion ants live on Earth. General estimates say that there are 1 million ants per person living on earth. Considering that the world population is more than 8 billion, you calculate the rest.
Ants can reproduce without mating:
Of course, most of the ant species reproduce with the mating and laying of an egg by a queen, just like in other insect species. But amazon ants are not like that. In the examinations made on Amazon ants, it was seen that the queen reproduced asexually without any mating, that is, she cloned herself quite a lot. Moreover, all ants that reproduce by cloning are also female. The name Amazon already comes from here.
Ants are engaged in animal husbandry:
Admit it, there’s a little chill, right? But the information is absolutely correct. Ants raise animals just as we set up farms and raise animals. When some ant colonies were observed, it was seen that aphids were used for livestock purposes. Ants obtain honey dew from aphids by protecting them from other predators and natural conditions such as rain. So it’s like putting a lot of cows on a farm and milking them regularly.
They have two stomachs with different functions:
No, they do not have two stomachs because they are very voracious creatures or eat too much food. In fact, one of these stomachs does not even benefit the ant individually. In this system, known as trofallaxis, the ant’s first stomach is used to store its own food. In the second stomach, food to be taken out and shared with others is carried. In this way, when the ant goes out and finds food, it first feeds itself, and then collects the food to take to the queen and the others. So the second stomach is the bag we know.
Ants are great swimmers:
Not all, of course, but some species of ants are such successful swimmers that they can travel unbelievable distances. Ants swimming in a dog-like style can also stay underwater for long periods without oxygen. Moreover, some fire ants can make sandalwood using leaves. Of course, they don’t do it for fun. Because ants are the world’s most successful masters of survival, they have evolved to continue to exist in all conditions.
Slavery still exists in the ant world:
Of course, let’s not be unfair to the whole ant world, maybe others have democracy, but a species called Polyergus lucidus lives a very barbaric life. A colony of ants of this species attacks and destroys the opposite colony and takes the remaining ones as captives. These captives are either parasitized or voluntarily used as slaves. Enslaved ants work for this colony all their lives as if it were their own colony.
Even before dinosaurs there were ants:
We’ve known ants have been around for many years, but we learned the exact history in a study by Harvard University and the University of Florida. According to the study, ants emerged about 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Even more interestingly, they managed to survive even the most terrible disasters of the era, such as the ice age, and have survived to the present day.
We talked about the extraordinary information about ants that have survived all over the world for millions of years, some of which you have heard for the first time. Let us remind you that although rare, some ant species are poisonous and you should not get too close.
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