Ants are known for being small but mighty. Just watch them at work, and you'll see why: They carry seemingly massive loads for their size, sometimes crumbs or leaves that are much larger than themselves. Learn how much an ant can lift and why they need to be so strong.

What makes an ant so strong?

You've seen lines of ants ferrying large loads, but how much can an ant lift? Well, many ants can carry up to 10–50 times their weight. Some types of ants can carry even more. If that doesn't sound very impressive to you, consider that a two-milligram ant carrying 10 times its own weight is about the equivalent of a 180-pound human carrying a full-grown cow.

The reason ants can carry so much is due to the ratio between their body size and body mass. Ants' bodies are made up of mostly two types of muscles: striated muscles, which are responsible for rapid movements like walking or running, and smooth muscles, which control essential functions like digestion. The striated muscles are the ones that make it possible for ants to carry heavy loads. Some species also have enlarged mandibles or jaws that have evolved specifically for lifting or transporting items back to their colonies.

Ant joints are also built to withstand more than 3,000 times their own body weight without breaking. Specialized attachment sites on their exoskeletons called apodemes serve as anchor points for muscles and give ants the ability to exert force more efficiently. Basically, the anatomy of an ant is built for brute strength. 

Why do ants need to be so strong?

Ants live in complex social colonies, where it's crucial to survival to have many members who each have a very specialized role. For example, the queen is the founder and leader of the colony. Her main role is to lay eggs to ensure the colony's population stays strong. The eggs are fertilized by male drones, and their sole function is to mate with the queen. Then you have alates, which are winged ants. These insects are male and female, and their role is to fly off, mate and start new colonies. This is called a "nuptial flight." 

But the strong ants that you most often see hustling outside the colony or interrupting picnics are worker ants. These ants are all female, and they have different roles throughout the colony. Some dig tunnels to expand and maintain the nest, some care for the queen's offspring, and others search for food, which they then carry back to the colony. Ants may be strong in relation to their size, but they can do a lot more when they work as a team, and each ant pulls its own weight.

While ants are fun to learn about, you might find them much less interesting if they've invaded your home. Don't wait for the ants to come marching in massive numbers — contact Terminix® to leave ant control to trained professionals.

The strongest ants

Ants have evolved over millions of years and adapted to their environment and lifestyle. From their size to their habitat to their role within the colony, a range of factors can play a role in how much an individual ant is capable of lifting. Some of the strongest types of ants include:

  • Leaf-cutter ants: Known to transport leaf fragments weighing over 50 times their own body weight. This is equivalent to a human lifting and carrying a large tree branch.

  • Carpenter ants: Capable of carrying objects more than 10 times their body weight.

  • Field ants: Studies have found that a common outdoor ant is capable of withstanding 5000 times its own weight.

While their weight-lifting capacity varies, all ants are considered extremely strong because their bodies are so light. In comparison, humans have a higher body weight and less muscle mass, so we don’t have as much strength left to lift other objects.

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