My girlfriend and I were walking in the snow this morning and something occured to me - what happens to ants when it snows? I know that if they are in the town and under pavements then they will probably be fine, but what about wild ants? Do they fall asleep because of the cold? Drown when the snow melts? Do they give off enough heat in nests to protect themselves en masse? Anyone?
Anthills (?) tend to be very well insulated. The snow will also insulate it further. I guess the ongoing activity in the hill is enough to keep it hot enough. And they don't drown because the anthill tend to stick up over the ground. I also think they extend somewhat below ground to take advantage of the ground heat. I'm no expert at ants though. This is all just assumptions.
They eat a tonne in the summer to put on fat, which lasts them through the winter. That and the earth stores a whole load of heat, so that's how they manage it. They can also survive in the bark on trees.
Did you know snow = water which is essentially the same as rain! According to sources, rain is a frequent occurance in the UK.
When it flooded last summer, I left an umbrella stand on the lawn and when the water came up there were 1000's of ants stacked on the thing.
I know rain and snow are essentially similar, but rain is surely deflected by trees and isn't as cold and doesn't act as such a barrier and so on. For that matter - why don't all the ants get washed away during heavy rain?
Isn't snow more easily deflected by trees than rain? (although most trees doesn't have leaves during the winter...)
Under snow, the ground and tender young shoots and buds are warmer than bare soil and plants subject to frost and wind chill. It also melts over a fairly long period of time so doesn't wash soil away like heavy rain. A bit of water won't hurt ants, but they'll rescue the eggs if the nest gets flooded.
I'm just amused by the fact you said 'wild ants' like you have 'urban ants' in the towns, and what about those 'feral ants' vicious buggers...
Ants are really good swimmers and I'm pretty sure they can breathe under water for aaages (days) before drowning. I used to keep some in an ice cream box in the garden and even though I was a sadistic little ******* and poured cups of water in there they could always survive.
Some people keep ants as pets, actually. Then again, people tend to have many strange things as pets. Is there any zoos that keep ants?
Yeah I know about ant farms and yes they do have ants in zoos, but it was more the idea that ants who don't live under pavements would be 'wild ants' that made me laugh.
But who knows. Maybe ants have these complex societies where they all help each other and so on.. No, wait...! No. The ants ate him.
