How Much Does 10 Million Ants Weigh?
WouterUsing a new method, scientists have estimated the number of ants on the planet. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study found that the ant population is unevenly distributed around the world, and that they are largely unaccounted for in human-inhabited areas.
The new study took a “bottom-up” approach, gathering ant counts from a wide variety of sources. These include surveys of ants in different environments, such as forests and human-made habitats.
Researchers analyzed 489 previous studies that used standard methods to count ants. This included leaf litter samples and pit traps.
The study found that the number of ants in tropical regions was significantly higher than expected. For example, they found that more than one-third of the ant populations in these areas were concentrated in forests. They also found that ants are surprisingly common in arid regions.
The total number of ants on the planet is now estimated to be 20 quadrillion. This number is equivalent to one followed by 15 zeros, and is greater than the total biomass of all humans on the planet. This total biomass is more than the combined biomass of all wild birds and mammals.
The new study was conducted by the University of Hong Kong, in conjunction with the University of Wurzburg in Germany. It involved thousands of authors, and was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
According to the researchers, the weight of a million ants would be approximately 6.614 pounds. To carry a 16-ounce bag of chips, the average-sized ants would be about a block long.
