How much does an ant weigh? A similar question at first glance is somewhat strange. How much can a creature weigh less than 0.5 centimeters in length? But everything, as you know, is known in comparison. The most important parameter that determines the dimensions
insect, as well as its weight is determined by belonging to one of three colonies: females, males and working ants. Each of the castes differ not only in their purpose, but also in appearance. Working individuals, as a rule, have the smallest parameters. Females and males are the largest. Three workers can weigh as much as 1 male ant. By the way, the
life expectancy of workers is very modest - one season, while individual uterus can live up to 12 years.
The second term to answer the question of how much an ant weighs is which subfamily a particular creature belongs to. To date, scientists distinguish about 12 thousand species, of which only about 300 live on the territory of Russia. Representatives of the smallest genus - monomorium - have sizes from 1 to 4
millimeters. And the largest species - Gamponotus gigas - is represented by the following individuals: workers - 2 centimeters, males - 1.8, soldiers - 2.8, uterus - 3.2 centimeters. Such dimensions are very significant. The large Gamponotus gigas-ant weighs up to 150 milligrams. And the largest ants in the history of the planet are fossils - they became extinct during evolution. Representatives of the genus Formicium had a body length of up to 7 centimeters, and their wingspan reached 15. How much does an ant of this species weigh, alas, can only be calculated mathematically.
These insects are rather small creatures, and their constitution consists of “weightless” elements: antennae, segments, stems. Only the head, epinotum and abdomen represent certain categories for calculating body weight . But with such small parameters, ants make up from 10 to 25% of the terrestrial animal biomass, since they are widespread everywhere (they do not live only in Antarctica and on some islands). This volume is due to the fact that their civilization has a very high organization, this type of insect easily changes and adapts to new habitats, the colony can use various types of resources for life.
In ancient times, the percentage of their biomass was not so high - only 1%. Ants began to prevail at the very beginning of the Tertiary period, after adaptive radiation. At this moment, their amount was up to 40% of the biomass of terrestrial animals. Of those genera, one tenth has survived to this day, almost unchanged. Ants are one of the oldest creatures on the planet. The oldest fossil specimen found in a piece of amber on a New Jersey beach is 130 million years old. It is difficult to say how much an ant weighs in the Mesozoic era, because its body has dried up and undergone some chemical treatment.
Ants are a very interesting object for observation. These are highly social and intellectual creatures. They have their own preferences and rules. Very high strategy and tactics of war. And most importantly, unlike the human community, they do not follow fashion, but tradition, and therefore have been able to live so many millions of years.