You don’t have to have fallen victim to the wrath of swarming fire ants to inherently understand the threat they pose; the scars left behind and the stories of the excruciating pain inflicted are often all that is necessary to ward anyone away from any ant that might be a shade of red that characterizes these aggressive insects. But despite their hostile nature, when it comes to survival, fire ants will do whatever is necessary to save the colony, even if it involves traversing inhospitable territory.
The chosen habitat of the fire ant is typically open sunny areas with moist soil, like parks, crop fields, watered lawns, river banks, and pond shores, which often puts them in direct contact with unsuspecting humans and animals that are perceived as immediate threats, and therefore mercilessly swarmed and subjected to a series of painful bites and stings. However, these chosen locations also put the entire colony at risk in the event of flooding, an occurrence that can happen easily and swiftly anywhere water is abundant.
You’d think that this risk factor would be enough to ward the colony away from such locales, but the humble fire ant has a unique method of mitigating disaster in these circumstances: forming a living raft.
Like some sort of team-building exercise, the fire ants begin to build the raft by interlocking their legs and mandibles to form a watertight foundation upon which more ants will climb and continue reinforcing the raft. The ants interlock in a perpendicular fashion, leaving just enough room between each member to create a buoyant structure whose weight is ultimately supported by the surface tension of the water, ensuring that as many members as possible make it through the ordeal alive. Once assembled, the queen and larvae are boarded onto the raft, which will stay afloat for as long as necessary until dry land is reached again, even bobbing back to the surface if submerged.
Check out this fascinating video showing the intricate structuring of these living rafts in the fire ants’ awe-inspiring bid for survival.
