2006-08-04 04:30:31 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Ants can appear to swim. I believe they link their bodies over water and the others crawl over the linked ones. Of course the "bridge" ones drown but that is an ants life I guess.
2006-08-04 04:37:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Most insects, ants included are less dense than water, and they have the added avantage of having hydropneust or hydrophobic hairs all over their bodies, which prevent them from breaking the surface tension. If they fall into water, they will almost always float, they can be forced under the water, and they achieve neutral buoyancy, it funny.
Ants can actually survive about 14 days under water, this was proven in a scientific experiment. Their oxygen requirements are so minimal that thet can go several days without air.
When stranded on the surface, the ants will walk across the surface, and have been noted to do this for long distances during rainy periods in south America and Africa.
Hope this answers your question!
2006-08-04 06:17:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
That depends on the species. Leaf Cutter ants can swim across still water, so when kept in captivity, they have to have moats of running water. And the glass enclosure has to have special chemicals. If the Queen were to escape in the U.S. Where Leave Cutters have no natural enemies, she could produce more than 32 Quadrillion new queens in five yeard. if each of those queens survived to establish nests with 100,000 workers each, there would be enough ants to bury the entire U.S. 110 feet deep in cutter ants. OUCH!
2006-08-04 05:03:50 · answer #3 · answered by clloplyr 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well....I've seen ants "paddle" around in a cup of water before. However, they don't last long. If you try to flush one down a sink drain, you'll have to let the water run for a little while. Otherwise, they'll come back up the drain pipe into the sink. I've seen this happen too.
2006-08-04 05:43:02 · answer #4 · answered by DragonL 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ive picked them up before and put em in my toilet and they dont really swim so much as try to walk on the water.
2006-08-04 04:34:24 · answer #5 · answered by Angel Eve 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Only if they were taught at Ant Elementary school
2006-08-04 05:21:56 · answer #6 · answered by TIGER_TELEGRAPH 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes they can swim through any depth of water other than like rivers ,lakes,etc.we have really bad problems with them so we tried to suround the cats food in water and they swam right to it.
2006-08-05 06:14:37 · answer #7 · answered by Dark Mistress 444 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah. they live up to 15 or 19 in water i do believe
2006-08-04 10:27:57 · answer #8 · answered by jessica n 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Experiment =P
2006-08-04 04:33:55 · answer #9 · answered by nrg_1293 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i'm not sure they can swim but i bet they can float
2006-08-04 07:02:07 · answer #10 · answered by starryhalo22 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋