Even though the fire ants are all clustered together, they still make good snacks for predators who are on the prowl.
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And while it sounds like something out of a horror movie, the technique by fire ants has been used for eons to escape flooding and migrate long distances, according to Tim Davis, an entomologist and Clemson University senior extension agent.
The recent torrential rains in South Carolina have state officials deeming it as “the 1,000-year storm”. The queen is kept safe in the middle of the raft, while fire ant workers protect larvae and eggs by keeping them in their mouths. The fine coat of hairs on the ants traps enough air that those on the bottom layer of the raft avoid being completely submerged. Amazingly, these rafts take hardly any time at all – a colony of ants can build on in less than two minutes, National Geographic reports.
“Central to the construction process is the trapping of ants at the raft edge by their neighbors, suggesting that a few “cooperative” behaviors may rely upon coercion”, the study read.
As far as MacKay knows, this specie of fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, are the only ones able to design these survivalist contraptions. Although they can float, they can’t swim.
Fire ants can survive in this condition for up to several weeks, because they have to find dry land to restart their colony. If anyone disturbs or breaks apart their tight formation, these little pests will start crawling up your body.
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The result is a massive raft in the shape of a pancake and the ability to survive massive floods.
