Giant Rafts of Fire Ants Are Somehow Surviving South Carolina Floods
Fire ants may be painful when they bite (and are terrible news for homeowners), but you have to give them credit: They’re survivors.
Facing biblical rains and historic flooding in South Carolina this week, giant rafts of fire ants have been spotted floating together in roving ant islands. This behavior allows entire colonies of fire ants to survive the floods, provided they can find dry land within a few days.
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Fire ants can assemble these rafts on short notice — reportedly in as few as 100 seconds — and keep thousands or more safe for days to weeks, according to a 2011 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study found that while a single fire ant struggles in water, a group of fire ants can float for days to weeks.
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