Hi
,
Sahara ants must operate extremely fast, or they would die. They cannot withstand the extreme temperatures in the desert for more than 10 minutes, usually less! Their victims usually succumb to the heat that can top 140 degrees, but they
themselves would also die very quickly if it wasn't for several astounding features designed into the ant.
For starters, their legs are very long, and this keeps their bodies away from the scorching surface. Second, they are one of the fastest creatures on earth compared to their size! At full speed, the Saharan silver ant uses the rear four
legs to run, raising the front pair. This enables them to travel a distance 108 times their own body length per second. This corresponds to a 6ft. human running at about 430 miles per hour! This is just the start.
Since the heat immediately destroys the chemical trail an ant leaves behind, how does it find its way back to the nest before being killed by the sun? The answer is nothing short of astounding. The ant takes note of the position of the sun on
its outward dash. It also has a built-in pedometer that measures the number of steps it takes. When it has to turn around and head back, it uses the sun's position and angle to guide it. It will then automatically clock the number of steps it is taking on the return trip compared to the ones it used on the outward one. When the numbers are equal, it's home!
But it doesn't end there. God has placed several more mechanisms into these ants to help them in this extreme environment. We'll see those next week....
