If you ’ve ever wondered how manyantsthere are on Earth , then look no further : there are approximately 20 quadrillion ant currently on planet Earth , grant to the latest scientific estimation .
How many ants are there in the world?
The figure of 20 quadrillion hail from a study publish in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesin 2022 . They reachedthis conclusionby synthesizing information from almost 500 study on louse diversity cover all Continent , major biomes , and habitats .
The number from the subject field is double the very boisterous calculation bring out in 1994 , the first scientific effort to approximate ant number by infer data on insects from southeastern England and applying it to the rest of the world .
How much do all the ants in the world weigh?
Around 20 quadrillion – that ’s 20 million billion – ants press around 12 megaton . free-base on the phone number of ants , the researchers worked out that their total global biomass is up to 12 megaton of wry carbon , which is just 20 per centum of humanity ’s total biomass .
If ants teamed up with other land insects , however , then they would easily crush the weight of all humans . A 2023 studyfound thatthe full fresh weight of all land insect and arthropods ( not include aquatic species ) was around 1 billion tonnes . Comparatively , the weight unit of humans is around 400 million tonnes and farm animal is approximately 600 million tonnes .
If you were to go up all the human in the universe , then they would produce a meatball that ’s just under 1 kilometer across-the-board . you’re able to intrust us onthat one .
How many species of ants are there?
There are over 15,700 name coinage and subspecies of ants known to science . However , it ’s estimated that the reliable number of species could be double this .
Ants can be found on every continent on Earth except Antarctica , although there are no native species find in Iceland , Greenland , part of eastern Polynesia , and a few of the most remote islands .
It ’s estimated that nearly two - thirds of ant species are establish in just two type of ecosystem : tropical forest and savannah . weigh there ’s a lack of datum on ant populations from parts of Asia and Africa , there are likely to be gaping gob in the cognition of ant diversity .
When did ants evolve?
ant emerge between 140 and 168 million years ago , accord to a2006 study . This was within the Jurassic period ( 199.6 million to 145.5 million year ago ) , characterize by a warm and lush blotto climate that gave advance to an teemingness of life – most notablya wealthiness of dinosaurs .
It is believe that ants evolved at this time as it was also the menstruum when flowering flora emerged , providing small insects with food that allowed them to thrive and radiate .
