The Amazing Little Speck

                Each week here on Mother Nature’s Compass, I try to help you see some small part of the natural world in a brand new light, such as you’ve never seen it before. This week, I’m going to help you look a little differently at the common sidewalk.

                I’m sure you’re thinking “The sidewalk? But the sidewalk isn’t part of the natural world!”

                True. But many of the folks who use it sure are. Particularly, the teeny, tiny folks.

                I’m speaking of the amazing ant.

                Here are these teeny, tiny insects that have a habit of turning up everywhere. They’re indiscriminate in that regard. They’ll show up in the park, on the lawn, on the wall, even strolling right through your kitchen like they own the place. But aside from anxiously evicting them from your premises, have you ever really considered the little guys? Here are some facts.

·         There are over 12,000 species of ant.

·         By some estimates, there are about 1 million ants on earth for every 1 human.

·         Ants have been around since the time of the dinosaurs

·         There are ants on every continent on earth except the Antarctic

Now would you like to hear about a few of things they can do?

·         They lead one another to food by leaving a scent trail, which they can smell through their antlers. That’s why you’ll occasionally see them marching in a long line.

·         In prehistoric times, there was one ant that measured at about 2.5 inches long, with a wingspan of about 6 inches. That’s a big ant!

·         Ants will sometimes share their food in between species.

·         Some species of ants will actually capture other ants and force them to work in a kind of slavery.

·         Some species can carry up to 50 times their own weight. If you could do that, and you were about 150 pounds, you’d have no problem grabbing a full-grown buffalo or two and running down the street!

·         Although most colonies contain thousands of individuals, there have been a few recorded nests that contain in excess of 300 million ants! Now that’s a lot of critters!

·         Each ant has a specific career. One is the queen, or breeding female. Some are workers who find food and maintain the nest. Others are soldier ants, who are large worker ants, and drones, who are breeding males.

·         All ants are stone deaf. They have no ears, so they “hear” by detecting vibrations through their feet and knees.

·         One species is all girls. Scientists have never found a male of this species. They have developed a way of reproducing asexually.

·         There are some species where soldier ants have very large heads. Their special job is to plug the opening of the ant colony with their big head to prevent intruders from entering.

·         Some ants have been known to adopt and raise the young of other insects.

·         Some ants build traps to capture other insects by making holes in certain leaves.

·         The bullet ant is said to deliver a sting as strong as any bullet, which is where its name comes from.

·         Ants can run exceedingly fast for their size. If you could run as fast as an ant in scale to your size, you could keep up with a race horse.

·         The trap jaw ant has such a powerful jaw that he can use it to catapult the enemy out of his way!

·         The Honeypot Ant has a unique way of meeting its nutritional needs. Certain workers are assigned the job of stuffing themselves to brim with nectar until they’re huge and swollen. Then they let the others feed from their store.

The list could go on and on, but some recent research has revealed a brand new ant trick that just may leave all of the others in the dust.

The ants may just be helping to ward off global warming!

Carbon dioxide is one of the leading causes of global warming when it’s allowed to hang around in the atmosphere. The earth has its own way of handling that, by allowing the absorption of the chemicals by rocks. However, it is a time consuming process, and we seem to be producing the stuff faster than the rocks can get rid of it. However, studies have revealed a much lower concentration of carbon dioxide in areas where ants reside. They theorize that the ants are actually speeding up the absorption process.


Just to think, we could be saved from our own folly by this itty bittiest of creatures. I’ll bet you’re looking at that sidewalk a bit differently already, aren’t you?

So, the next time you’re strolling down the walk, and you see one of those little black specks skittering along ahead of you, please don’t step on it. Step around it. That speck is one of Mother Nature’s mightiest creatures, you know!

Comments