Do Ants Drink Water?

Just like other living things, ants need water to survive. Due to their tiny bodies, ants drink from drops of water or small puddles.

Do Ants Drink Water

There are various ways through which ants drink water, depending on the species and their body size. However, most drink the water found in the food they consume. When there is a water shortage, ants are known to move in search of it.

Where do Ants get their Water?

Ants obtain water from a variety of sources, the most common of which is food. Some, such as weaver ants and Leafcutter ants, get their water from plant sap.

Extrafloral nectarines are also a source where ants can obtain some sweet liquid.  The tiny insects also tend aphids for liquid honeydew, which has a lot of water.

Ants have a very strong bond and look out for each other. Hence, the bigger ants tend to bring back water into their colonies for those who haven’t had the chance to hunt for it. Therefore, they have strategies through which they can carry large amounts of water at a time:

  • Harvester ants, for instance, are known to toss sand into liquid food so that they can carry it back to their nests.
  • Aphaenogaster ants must be some of the smartest ants in the colonies: they use plant materials as sponges with which to soak up water and transport it.
  • The Diacamma and Mark Moffet ants, cover their nests with feathers that collect dew in the early mornings. Furthermore, others can reclaim their internal water by use of structures known as rectal pads.

Truth be told, though, ants rarely visit waterholes searching for water. Most of them get the water they need through the food they consume.

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How do Ants Drink Water?

Just like with mammals, there are two methods through which ants drink water: sucking and licking.

Ants contain a particular part in their mouth that is very similar to the human tongue in functionality- it is called the labium. This is the part that ants use to drink water. The labium is subdivided into the glossa and the hypopharynx.

The licking method is very much like how a dog consumes water. Ants use the glossa to trap water, which is then physically transported into the hypopharynx. One of the ant species that drinks water by licking is the Yellow jackets species.

The way ants suck water into the body applies the exact mechanisms as when humans suck fluids into their body: negative pressure.

However, unlike humans, ants do not have lungs. First, they use another component of their mouth called the mandible to break the surface tension of the water; then, they absorb it through capillary action. This is where the liquid is drawn into the hypopharynx and then passed into the digestive system.

How Much Water Do Ants Drink?

The amount of water that an ant drinks is dependent on the size of its head and its drinking method.

Essentially, the bigger the ant, the more water it will drink. Therefore, it is not simple to just put a figure to the amount of water an ant drinks. Ants are of different species, each with its own body size, drinking speed, and varying water requirements.

However, we could take one regular-sized ant and make a comparison. The mid-sized Componotus mus is a good choice. In one sitting, this ant drinks up to about 6-8 microlitres of water. Therefore, it is safe to deduct that smaller ants drink less, and bigger ones drink higher amounts of water.

In 2003, Paul & Roces carried out an experiment to measure the amount of water that different species of ants consume in one sitting.

Their data included the drinking rates and the number of times that different ants under observation drank water. Based on the information obtained from their data, the most amount of water that an ant can consume in one sitting is approximately 35 microliters, and the smallest, 0.1 microliters. On average, an ant should drink about 6-8 microliters of water.

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Why do Ants Need Water?

Ants need water to survive, just like other living things. If anything, water is more crucial to the survival of ants than food. Most colonies can go for a long without food, but water scarcity can be life-threatening to them.

Interestingly, ants get thirsty just like human beings do. This is more so during hot weather or when they are out looking for food. Thus, they would need water to quench that thirst.

On that note, if you see ants wandering around your place during summer, be kind enough to put out some water in an area that they can access easily. The insects are known to visit homes during the heat of summer.

When the place around their nest becomes dry and water starts to run out, ants move in search of more humid locations. Fortunately, they take minimal amounts of water at a go due to their small sizes. Water is a necessary requirement for ants, and they need a constant supply of it.

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Conclusion

As tiny as they are, ants drink water just like other living things. Most of the water they consume comes from the food they eat, but they also source it from droplets and small puddles. Ants need water for their survival and drink it according to their head sizes. On average, an ant drinks about 6-8 microlitres of water in one sitting.

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