The Sahara desert is a rather inhospitable place and it certainly puts the creatures that inhabit its arid and dry lands to the test. So much so that at certain times of the day very few animals dare to come out into the open. However, there is an insect that is capable of withstanding up to 70 degrees Celsius of temperature without dying in the attempt : it is the silver ants or silver ants of the Sahara ( Cataglyphis bombycina ).
The most characteristic thing about these ants is that they have a thick and concentrated layer of hairs that cover their bodies and that reflect most of the visible and infrared spectrum that they have around them. This is why they are able to withstand temperatures so overwhelming that they would kill any other living being.
The hairs that cover them give them a bright and peculiar appearance when you see them walking on the sand. When exposed, their hairs emit body heat allowing their bodies to cool down (up to 10º C) by getting rid of excess heat . However, they cannot stay as long as they wish outside the anthill; its protective structure also has a thermal limit. According to the study published in the journal Science and carried out by the entomologists Nanfang Yu, Norman Nan Shi (Columbia University), Rüdiger Wehner (University of Zurich), the maximum is 10 minutes and its critical temperature is 53.6ºC . If the bodies of these metallic-looking ants reach this temperature, they die.
These silver ants are unique in nature to use these types of mechanisms to control temperature.
Crédito imagen: Norman Nan Shi y Nanfang Yu, Columbia Engineering
