Fire Ants can imitate textiles and liquid. During a flood, fire ants can form a raft with their bodies that can stay afloat for a few months.
People who know me well know that I hate ants (traumatizing incident as a child), so naturally I was drawn to a documentary about fire ants a couple nights ago on netflix. It was so fascinating so I've decided to start my new blog series "Fun Fact Friday" with a couple tidbits I learned from that.
Basically, ant colonies are these amazing super organisms. Protection of the colony, especially the young, is the top priority. And because of that, ants have a few cool tricks. When flooded, ants form a raft with their bodies. They are connected to approximately 8 other ants at a time. The raft can stay afloat for a few months before finding a new surface to rebuild on. Even cooler than that- the raft is not submerged when pressed on. Instead it bends and flexes forming a bowl.
Like the rafting technique, ants also connect their bodies to form a ball. The ball can be tossed and even pulled apart, with a consistency and texture much like a ball of gum. Another cool trick- if you were to take the ball of ants and put it in a funnel or pour them from a cup, instead of the ants falling straight to the ground, they trickle like a fluid stream safely down.
Now there are tons of more interesting facts about ants from colony politics to the intricately tunneled mounds they call home. But these were the two I found most interesting and had no clue about! I know I am a nerd, but I hope you found that as interesting as I did. I highly recommend watching the documentary. The narrator is awful but the information is cool.
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