Incredible Ants: How These Tiny Insects Build Mega-Cities and Cooperate Like Humans
“If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?” — Marie Dressler
Ants are capable of building mega-cities that can rival human metropolises in terms of size, complexity, and organization.
But what makes ants such incredible builders and cooperators?
Building Mega-Cities
“The largest ant’s nest ever found was over 3,700 miles wide! It housed 33 ant populations which had merged into one giant supercolony, with millions of nests and billions of workers!” (National Geographic)
Ants are social insects — they live in colonies consisting of thousands or even millions of individuals. These colonies can take on many forms, ranging from simple underground nests to complex mega-cities that span multiple acres.
The most famous example of a mega-city built by ants is the one created by the species Atta cephalotes, commonly known as the leafcutter ant.
