3 Surprisingly Strong Insects

3 Surprisingly Strong Insects

Crazy Abilities

Insects have a variety of surprising abilities. Roaches can survive weeks without their heads, ants can supply their colony members with first aid, bees can perform a form of “dance” to relay complex information to their colony, and wasps can even be trained to identify explosives. Amongst some of these incredible abilities is shocking strength. The following three insects have what could be considered ‘super strength’ for their small sizes.

1. Ironclad Beetles

The ironclad beetle is sometimes known as the ‘tank’ of all insects. In a series of tests, it was discovered that this small bug could withstand the pressure of 39,000 times its body weight. Comparably, a person would have to be able to withstand the weight of 40 actual war tanks to match up to this incredible ability.

2. Leafcutter Ants

All ant species possess notable strength with respect to their miniscule sizes, but leafcutter ants stand out as the strongest species. Their raw power gives them the ability to lift up to 50 times their own body weight. This ability would be equivalent to a human lifting about 9,000 lbs… or a small monster truck.

3. Rhinoceros Beetles

Possibly the strongest insect in the world, the rhinoceros beetle is capable of lifting astounding weight with proportion to themselves. On average, this weight comes to roughly 850 times their own weight – roughly the equivalent of an adult human lifting 9 adult male elephants.

Citations

C, R. (2018) How Strong Are Ants?, Ants.com. Available at: https://ants.com/how-strong-are-ants/ (Accessed: March 29, 2021). Honeybees Can Teach Us About Democracy (2012) YouTube. SciShow. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abk-advcClw&list=PLB3FCEEAC84884760&index=51 (Accessed: May 2020). Rhinoceros Beetles (no date) National Wildlife Federation. Available at: https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Rhinoceros-Beetles (Accessed: March 29, 2021). Temming, M. (2021) The diabolical ironclad beetle can survive getting run over by a car. Here’s how, Science News. Available at: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/diabolical-ironclad-beetle-exoskeleton-armor-impossible-squish (Accessed: March 29, 2021). Wu, K. (2018) Five Real Life Wasp Superpowers Not in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Smithsonian Magazine. The Smithsonian Institution. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-you-should-let-wasp-be-your-hero-today-180969521/ (Accessed: July 2020).