How Fast Can an Ant Run?
Ants are very strong and fast insects. Not only can they lift 20 times their own body weight, but their body structure and musculature allow them to run very quickly. Their six legs propel them to an average speed of 300 meters per hour. If humans could run as quickly, they'd be able to run in the Kentucky Derby.
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In Ant Terms
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The average size of a worker carpenter ant is 1/4 inch long, putting it in the large ant category. Large ants have an average speed of 300 meters per hour, or 196 inches per minute. To put it in perspective, the ant is traveling 787 times its body length in one minute.
Compared to Humans
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If humans could run as quickly as an ant, they would be able to run as fast as racehorses. Assuming an average-size man, 6 feet tall, covered 787 times his size in a minute, he would travel at a rate of 4,722 feet per minute or 53.6 miles per hour.
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Human to Ant
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If a human were shrunk to ant size and traveled at the speed the average human travels, he would be able to walk 18 meters per hour--1/16 the rate of an ant's pace. To put it in miles, the ant-sized human would take 100 hours to walk one mile. The average ant would clear that mile in about 5.5 hours.
Ant Legs
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Ants have six legs, with three joints on each leg. These legs are all attached to the trunk. Along with being strong, the end of each leg has a sharp claw that allows ants to climb and hang on to various surfaces.
Other Speed Facts
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Another quick-moving part of an ant is its jaws. The ant with the quickest jaw snap is found in Costa Rica. It can snap its jaw 145 miles per hour--quicker than cheetahs, sharks, and crocodiles can snap their jaws. The quick jaw snap also allows these ants to launch their bodies 3 inches to 16 inches through the air by snapping their jaws into the ground or off their bodies to get away from predators.
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Comments
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