The ants build rafts on the water

When water enters the nest, ant colonies cling to each other and create floating rafts to increase the flock's survival ability.

If the water spills into the nest, ants quickly bring the eggs to places where the water has not yet reached. But if the whole nest is submerged, they will cling to each other to form a block. In this photo, about 500 fire ants form a raft on the water.

In the ants world, scientists have only seen ants creating rafts on water. But many other ant species make up cubes like bridges or towers.

"Riddles" are very difficult to submerge. When attacked like this, ants shrink their muscles to "sink" deeper into the water, but in return they will draw more air to increase their buoyancy. Thanks to that tactic, they didn't sink completely.

Fire ants can float on the water easily thanks to the tiny hairs on the body. Those hairs hold the air and help ants emerge. However, if the water has soap or oil, the surface tension of the water will decrease, making the ant's ability to float lower.

Even the ants at the bottom of the "raft" are not submerged under the water thanks to the air that their hairs create.

When fire ants gather into terrestrial groups, they act like liquids.

A fire ant stepped on the clean water.