How heavy is a wood ant?
The animals can build mounds that are more than a meter high. If this were to be removed, it would weigh several kilograms. But in comparison, did you also wonder how heavy a wood ant actually is?
What you need:
- Anthill
- Forest walk
- patience
- Time
Although a wood ant is not heavy, it can carry many times its own weight.
Body type of the wood ant
- Females can grow up to 9 mm, males up to 11 mm. They have a red body color, with the head being dark brown to black. Compared to normal Ants they are a few millimeters larger.
- The animals have well-defined compound eyes and have a mouth tool with which you can not only chop up food, but also grab and transport leaves and other things. They also use these tools in an attack.
That is how heavy the animal is
- On average, a wood ant weighs 10 milligrams. Females are slightly lighter than males due to their smaller size. Compared to the body size, the ant is therefore not particularly heavy.
- The larvae weigh about three milligrams. The life of normal workers lasts around three years, whereby the queens can live to be 15 years old. If you observe the wood ants at work, you can distinguish them very well based on their body size.
How strong are ants?
You have probably already wondered how the little ants manage to ...
How strong an ant is
- Wood ants are not only strong but also hardworking. They often build anthills that can be more than a meter high, in some cases even two meters. Of course, one animal cannot do this alone. If you stand in front of such a hill, you can see how all the animals are busily building it.
- A single animal can carry an object up to 30 times as heavy as it is itself. So it is possible that several ants can also transport large leaves, pine needles and small sticks, which are then used for building.
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