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Can You Believe These Tiny Insects Are Carrying Things 100x Their Body Weight?!
It's true what people say: big things really do come in small packages.
Recently, an Indonesian photographer has gone viral on social media after sharing his most recent photography project. His subject? Nature's tiniest super soldiers (and greatest architects) – ants.
Macro photographer Dzulfikri from Indonesia shared a series of images showing ants lifting fruits and veggies. Credit: Mediadrumworld/dzulfikri72.
Cikarang-based macro photographer Dzulfikri said that he finds ants "wonderful and beautiful" to watch and photograph, especially when they showcase their remarkable feats of strength.
The unusual pictures that Dzulfikri took of the ants, which show them lifting fruits and vegetables that are more than ten times their size, are blowing up on the internet right now as people are amazed by these tiny powerlifters.
Just take a look at the images below! Ants truly are amazing, aren't they?
The species of ants featured in the photographs are called weaver ants. They originated from Southeast Asia and they make their own nests by weaving together leaves and larval silk, as their name suggests.
Aside from being expert weavers, they are also known for being able to carry 100 times their body weight. (Imagine a 65-kilogram man lifting a fully grown African elephant…)
The five ants stood together holding their own pieces of fruit. Credit: Mediadrumworld/dzulfikri72.
In one of the next power shots, you can see two ants working together to move a sweetsop, which is a large tropical fruit. In another image, another couple of ants are shown skillfully balancing a ridiculously huge head of broccoli, which, in comparison to them, appears to be as tall as an oak tree.
"When people see the images, they can’t believe that the ants can carry these pieces of fruit," added the photographer.
With the aid of a makeshift tripod and a small set, which he placed close to the ant colony, Dzulfikri was able to document the ants' formidable strength.
And despite the fact that Dzulfikri's photographs appear to be extremely complex to set up (just how did he get the ants to hold those fruits and vegetables…), the Indonesian photographer guarantees that he did not harm the animals in any way and tried to disturb them as little as possible while taking the pictures.
"Some people think that I must use glue to get the shot, but I love animals and I would never harm them," he said.
He added that the photography project was carried out by him and his team with great care, and once they had finished shooting, the ants were set free and allowed to return to the colony.
Most of the time, these weaver ants live in the treetops and build amazing cities out of leaves. Credit: Mediadrumworld/dzulfikri72.
Weaver ants are fiercely protective of their territories, and workers fight back against intruders with vigour.
And because they eat insects that are harmful to the trees they live in, indigenous farmers, especially in south-east Asia, sometimes use weaver ants as natural biocontrol agents against agricultural pests.
These weaver ants (also known as green ants) can also be found here in Australia, making their nests among the foliage of trees.
So, if you see a bunch of leaves woven together and secured by some kind of silk, there's a good chance it's a colony of weaver ants! But don't worry, they're usually harmless to humans unless you provoke them by attacking their nest…
Watch the video down below if you want to learn more about how they construct their nest and get a better look at them in action:
Credit: Animalogic.
