RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

The London 2012 Olympic Games are in full competitive glory and world records in weightlifting, swimming and archery have been smashed. But how do the world's strongest animals, most accurate archers and champion boxers measure up? 

The remarkable achievements of one athlete have earned him the accolade of the most successful Olympian in history, after winning his 20th gold from three Games.

But are Michael Phelps and the other record-breaking Olympians any match for nature's best? BBC Nature has previously examined animal track and field stars, but other incredible feats have also been recorded.

Hossein Rezazadeh of Iran remains one of the greatest weightlifters of all time, lifting a mighty 263kg for a current clean and jerk world record.

But ants are also capable of some remarkable feats of strength for their diminutive size.

Remarkably, a leaf-cutter ant can carry a piece of leaf 50 times its own body weight. Could Hossein carry a van weighing over 2300kg?

Probably not.

So he would be even less happy going up against a rhinoceros beetle.

The male can lift an astonishing 850 times their body weight, or put another way, Hossein lifting six double-decker buses weighing over 8000kg.

But, the species to beat is a tiny mite that has been shown holding forces of up to 1180 times its weight and even pull 530 times its weight on a vertical surface.

These extraordinary invertebrates would get a well-deserved first place and gold medal.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Ants Remember Their Enemy's Scent

Ant colonies - one of nature's most ancient and efficient societies - are able to form a "collective memory" of their enemies, say scientists.

When one ant fights with an intruder from another colony it retains that enemy's odor, passing it on to the rest of the colony. This enables any of its nest-mates to identify an ant from the offending colony.

The findings are reported in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

For many ant species, chemicals are key to functioning as a society. Insects identify their nest-mates by the specific "chemical signature" that coats the body of every member of that nest.

The insects are also able to sniff out any intruder that might be attempting to invade.

This study, carried out by a team from the University of Melbourne in Australia, set out to discover if ants were able to retain memories of the odors they encounter.

The researchers studied the tropical weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina), which builds is home in trees; one nest can contain up to 500,000 workers.

The team set up a "familiarization test" to allow ants from one nest to encounter intruders from another.

Over a series of trials, they placed an ant from a "focal nest" into a tiny observation arena with an ant from another nest.

After 15 of these familiarizing face-offs, the team set up a fake ant invasion. They placed 20 worker ants from the now "familiar" nest on or near the focal nest.

"These intruders were typically attacked by the resident workers," the researchers reported in their paper.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA