An Ant is an Ant, Of Course, Of Course

My co-worker and I have been taking mid-afternoon walks outside the office building. It's good, because I squeeze in more exercise, stay out of the vending machine and away from the ding-dongs (not that I would eat something as disgusting as ding-dongs, but you know what I'm saying!) and get more sunshine AND Vitamin D.

Yesterday during our stroll, we saw what looked to be a giant horsefly moving along the sidewalk on its side. Startled, we looked a little closer - one lowly ant (it wasn't even the biggest ant I've ever seen) was dragging this ginormous horsefly. (Insect take-out, I guess!

I was amazed by this as I sometimes struggle to carry multiple grocery bags up the stairs to my apartment.

But watching this animal activity made me wonder a few things about ants:

• Can ants 'bulk up?' Do they have training sessions at ant gyms to help them get to horsefly-carrying shape? Maybe they start with a gnat, move up to a housefly, etc.
  
• Is there an equivalent to steroids for ants? Was this ant we spied just an artificial substance user or did he actually have super-ant strength?


• Are ants so strong because they're flatter and have more legs? Maybe human beings are doomed to strength mediocrity because we're taller and have a higher center of gravity. I know that I almost topple over when I put too much weight on my shoulder for squats. But then, I could just be a big wuss.

The whole event was fascinating - the ant and horsefly got stuck in a sidewalk crack - equivalent to a big ditch I'm sure. Not a problem - the ant just keep pulling until the horsefly was ditch-free.

That has me thinking of another ant dumb question - do they carry things with their mouths? I can't imagine those spindly legs are very useful. I'm not sure I'd want a horsefly in my mouth. That's kind of nasty.