Um, ants? Why on Earth would I care about ants? If that’s what you’re thinking, I would have been inclined to agree with you before learning the things I’ll be sharing today. Once I realized what ants are actually capable of, it became clear that they are entirely underappreciated.

Still not convinced? I’ll give you four reasons ants are pretty badass.

Reason #1: They have HIGH-DEF smell.

It was this morning that I really started to get curious about ants. I noticed that after dropping a small piece of fruit on the counter of our Puerto Vallarta Airbnb, ants appeared out of nowhere within about five minutes. They’re not the fastest creature out there, so how could they possibly find a piece of food so quickly? Keep in mind, I’m on the third floor of this house.

After some Googling, I found that ants have four or five more smelling receptors than other insects. Until recently, even scientists were underestimating their abilities to differentiate between the slightest molecular changes. It comes down to them having more smell-sensing nerve cells than people do.

Reason #2: They are MEGA-strong.

Ants can withstand up to 5,000 times their body weight. I hope that number already seems impressive, but I’ll give you some perspective. That’s the same as a 200-pound human lifting the world’s largest passenger jet, an Airbus A380. Or, perhaps, a 105-pound woman (like myself) lifting twenty school buses. Twenty!

Can I get a “dayyyyyum!”

Reason #3: They don’t have lungs or ears.

You might be thinking, “Well they already have a crazy sense of smell and outrageous lifting abilities, what more can they ask for?” Except, while they don’t have the typical breathing and hearing setup, that doesn’t mean they can’t do these things. On the contrary, ants achieve respiration through holes on their sides called spiracles. Connected by tubes, these special holes distribute oxygen all throughout their bodies.

As for hearing, ants have special receptors to detect vibrations in the ground and adjust their behavior accordingly.

BONUS FACT: When ants bite you, it hurts like a beeyotch because of a neurotoxin they release. Fire ant bites are worse because they first bite to grip you and quickly sting from their abdomen.

So ants, amiright?

Pretty neat little buggers. Less neat when they bite, but still mighty impressive.

Alrightey folks, ant geek-out over!
All the best,
—@sharingeverybite (just not ant kind)