One of the most remarkable creatures in the biological world is the weaver ant. With their sticky feet and strength, weaver ants working together can suspend objects much heavier than themselves. Researchers found that an individual weaver ant could pull 59 times its own body weight, but when ants work in a group of 15, each can pull 103 times its own weight. When humans form a physical team, such as in a tug-of-war, each individual exerts less energy. In contrast, when weaver ants work as a team, each ant exerts more energy.
To complete their work, weaver ants form chains of two to four, with one behind the other. When working on a leaf, the front ants bend their legs to pull the leaf tip with their mandibles, while the rear ants hold the leaf to prevent it from flipping back. This chain of ants functions like a force ratchet, with the front ants actively pulling and the rear ants passively resisting. The rear ants grasp the bodies of the front ants, plant their sticky feet firmly on the leaf, and store the forces generated by the front ants.
For weaver ants to do their work, their feet must have enough stickiness to withstand the forces involved. Their legs need to be strong and rigid enough to twist a stiff leaf. The way weaver ants work as a team is just one example of the wisdom and design built into creation that allows life to thrive on our planet. Such examples are not accidents but carefully engineered according to forces that science is only beginning to understand. Everywhere we look, we see God’s wisdom and design.
— John N. Clayton © 2025
Reference: Scientific American, November 2025, page 15.