«If we assume that the ants are only 1% of the total number of insects, their population is 10 thousand trillion individuals. The average weight of the worker ant, depending on the species, is 1-5 mg. If you add them all together, it turns out that all the ants of the world weigh about as much as the whole of humanity “- quoted by American writers (Wilson and Helldoblera) Russian service of BBC, stating that this calculation is based on the idea that the average person weighs a million times more than the average ant.
«Is it really?” – asks the publication, stating at the same time that the average person’s weight is 62 kg, which means that the average ant must weigh approximately 62 mg. “Indeed, there are ants that weigh about 60 mg, but it’s rare,” – says entomologist Francis Ratnieks of Sussex University. – Ordinary ants living in British gardens, weigh 1-2 mg ».
Russian Service BBC, however, draws the reader’s attention to the fact that no one actually really knows what the total number of ants in the world. “Even counting Wilson and Helldoblera inaccurate. At the moment in the world of 7.2 billion lives. Persons. If you take only adults over 15 years, their total weight will be about 332 billion. Lbs. If we agree that the world has 1,016 ants, each of which weighs about 4 mg, their total weight will be only $ 40 billion. Kg “, – said the Russian service of BBC.
But Professor Rantnieks believes that the estimates and Wilson Helldoblera, though wrong in our day, not so long ago to reflect reality. “A total of 2 thousand years ago, ants overtaken by weight of humanity, but around the end of the XVIII century, since gaining independence America, mankind began to grow rapidly and surpassed by weight of ants.” “We should also remember that people are getting fatter, so do not be surprised that we have left behind the ants,” – said the British entomologist.
Armenia News – NEWS.am
No comments:
Post a Comment