Page 73 - The Miracle in the Ant

ing reached 30 degrees. Right at this point the ants start getting out of
their underground nests to look for food. Since their bodies are very
cold, they cannot move straight and they walk with a wobble. Yet when
the temperature increases, more ants come out and they start moving
straighter and faster. The temperature where the in-out traffic of the nest
is highest is 52.2 degrees. When the temperature goes above this point,
the movement goes on, but as it reaches 67.8 degrees, the traffic stops.
This temperature is reached about one hour before noon. As the tem-
perature starts falling in the afternoon, the food search starts again and
continues until the surface temperature drops to 30 degrees.
These ants may look for food for about six days away from the nest
without becoming a prey to any animals. During this time they carry
food home weighing 15-20 times their own weight.
Ants, who find it impossible to return to the nest when the tempera-
ture in the desert becomes impossibly high, use quite an interesting
method for protection from heat. The air temperature decreases as one
rises above the sand. For instance, while the temperature of the sand is
67.8 degrees, a little above it, the air temperature is 55 degrees.
Therefore, when the sand surface temperature is above 52.2 degrees,
ants climb on to objects like plants and stay there for a while to cool.
The temperature of the small body of the ant soon falls to the ambient
temperature. In tree trunks, the temperature varies between 30 and 38.3
degrees. These cooling breaks make it possible for the ant to look for
food in burning heat, albeit intermittently.
In high temperatures, if the ant cannot find a cool place within a few
seconds, it is going to die from heat. In fact, in sand temperatures of
over 52.2 degrees, they take such a risk every time they leave their nests.
Then how have desert ants escaped this inevitable end? Since they do
not measure the temperature with a thermometre, we can safely say that
they came into existence knowing what to do at what temperature – and
knowing these things from the very first time they left the nest.
Yes, the desert ant has been created and equipped with special fea-
tures to live in the desert. Allah, Who has created a sharp jaw for leaf
cutter ants has inspired in the desert ants the knowledge of how to pro-
tect themselves.

Harun Yahya 73