Ants may be small creatures, but they’re capable of incredible feats of strength. Individual ants are able to carry items that way much more than their bodies, and when ants work together, they’re able to carry even more. Just how strong are ants, and how much weight can they actually lift? Read on to learn more about the super-powered strength of ants.
Key Takeaways:
- Ants can items up to 100 times heavier than their own bodies
- An ant is capable of supporting as much as 5,000 times its body mass
- The Asian weaver ant is one of the strongest known ant species
- Ants are comparatively stronger than humans and elephants
How Strong Are Ants?
An ant can carry items that are 100 times heavier than its body mass, and it can support the weight of items 5,000 times heavier! Ants are even stronger when they work together, which is why a single ant colony can move 50 tons of dirt per year. Even though ants are tiny, they’re among the strongest creatures in the world today.
In fact, the small size of an ant actually contributes to its strength! Most ants weigh between 1 and 5 mg. An ant’s light body doesn’t require much muscle support, which is why an ant can use all of its strength to lift heavy objects.
Worker ants also have strong, well-developed muscles across their bodies. While worker ants used to be flying insects, most species lost their wings as they evolved. Without wings, ant muscles had more room to expand and develop, leading to the ultra-strong ants we see today.
Humans have skeletons inside our bodies, but ants have skeletons on the outside. An ant’s exoskeleton is made of a hard, durable, material called chitin. The protection that this skeleton provides also helps an ant’s body to support very large amounts of weight.
What Is the Strongest Species of Ant?
With more than 12,000 species of ants in the world, experts can’t say for certain which species is the strongest. With that said, the Asian weaver ant is known for its lifting abilities. These ants are so strong that they can carry 100 times their body weight even when they’re upside-down! Since these ants are so strong, they’re capable of capturing and carrying much larger insects back to their colony.
Not only is the weaver ant strong, but it has an extremely powerful grip. These ants have expandable foot pads that they can use to cling to surfaces. If one of these ants is about to drop something, it can expand its foot pads and tighten its grip in a fraction of a millisecond.
Weaver ants are highly aggressive and will quickly attack when they detect a threat to their nest. Unlike some ants, weaver ants don’t have stingers, but they do have very powerful bites. A weaver ant can also spray formic acid at a bite wound, causing intense pain.
Another ant species that’s well-known for its strength is the leafcutter ant. These tiny insects have powerful, chainsaw-like jaws that they can use to strip the leaves off of trees. Once the leaf has been removed, these ants quickly carry them back to their colonies. The leafcutter ant can carry 50 times more than its body weight while sprinting!
While that’s already an amazing feat, leafcutter ants are also known for their incredible endurance. A colony of leafcutter ants can strip an entire tree of its leaves in under 24 hours. These strong ants work tirelessly to meet the needs of their colonies.
Are Ants the Strongest Insect?
The strength of ants is amazing, but surprisingly, there are a few insects that are even stronger! Dung beetles can carry over 1,000 times their body weight. Other beetle species can support massive amounts of weight as well.
Beetles also have extremely hard exoskeletons, and some species, like the ironclad beetle, are so strong that you couldn’t crush them with your shoe. While a honeybee is only able to carry about half its body weight, it’s capable of doing that while it’s flying through the air.
Even though flying requires a lot of muscle support, honeybees have two sets of flight muscles, which makes it easier for them to carry heavy items through the air.
Are Ants Stronger Than People?
A human can support more weight than an ant can, but that’s only because of their comparatively large size. The relative strength of an ant is much higher than that of a human. In fact, when you look at home much ants can lift relative to their size, they’re even stronger than elephants!
Even professional weightlifters are no match for ants. Bodybuilder Vasily Alekseyev, who weighed 353 pounds, set the world record for an overhead lift when he successfully lifted 507 pounds above his head. Competitively, ants lift more than that every single day.
How strong would an ant be if it was the same size as a human? While the ant would still be stronger than a person, it wouldn’t be capable of lifting items that were 1,000 times its size. If an ant became larger, its muscles would have to support more weight, which would reduce its lifting abilities.
Conclusion
Although ants may not look powerful, they’re one of the strongest animals in the world. While there are a few insects that are stronger than ants, there aren’t many creatures that can do what an ant can! An ant’s small size actually contributes to its strength. Ants are a reminder that even the smallest creatures can be tough.
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