Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!"
I thought it would be fun to consider some of the interesting facts about ants. If God can do such remarkable things with something so small and common, I wonder if He might have plans for us too?
The legs of the ant are very strong so they can run very quickly. If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse.
Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight.
An ant brain has about 250,000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human. It has been estimated that an ant's brain may have the same processing power as a Macintosh II computer.
The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.
The job of the queen is to lay eggs which the worker ants look after. Worker ants are sterile, they look for food, look after the young, and defend the nest from unwanted visitors.
Ants are clean and tidy insects. Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump!
Each colony of ants has its own smell. In this way, intruders can be recognized immediately. Many ants such as the common Red species have a sting which they use to defend their nest.
Some birds put ants in their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of the parasites.
At night the worker ants move the eggs and larvae deep into the nest to protect them from the cold. During the daytime, the worker ants move the eggs and larvae of the colony to the top of the nest so that they can be warmer.
If a worker ant has found a good source for food, it leaves a trail of scent so that the other ants in the colony can find the food.
A crushed ant will emit an alarm pheromone which in high concentration sends nearby ants into an attack frenzy.
Most ants are omnivorous. This means they eat everything, including other insects, seeds, oils and bread.
More than 10,000 species may exist worldwide. Approximately 570 species occur in the United States.
blessings,
Rob Smith
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