HOW FIRE ANTS SURVIVE FLOODS - THEY BUILD RAFTS WITH THEIR LEGS

 

Mystery of how fire ants survive floods solved: Insects hook their legs together to form LIFE RAFTS that help them float

 

U.S. engineers used mathematical modelling and time-lapse photography to unravel how the fire ants self-assemble into their life-preserving raft

Tech researchers said the ants grip each other with mandibles, claw and adhesive pads at a force 400 times their body weight to make their raft

The result was a viscous and elastic material that is almost like a fluid composed of ant ‘molecules,’ and is self-healing

Incredibly, an ant raft can be assembled in less than 100 seconds

Read more and see pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2514349/Mystery-ants-survive-floods-solved-Insects-hook-legs-form-LIFE-RAFTS-help-float.html

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