Total estimated biomass80 trillion kg
1 billionSpace Shuttle orbiters
444 trillionNavel oranges
1.2 sextillionSand grains
~80 billion kg wet weight; ~80 million tonnes of dry carbon (PNAS 2022)
Photo on Unsplash
All the Ants on Earth
20 quadrillion tiny roommates we never invited/Collective & Conceptual
A 2022 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimated there are approximately 20 quadrillion (2 × 10^16) ants on Earth with a combined biomass of roughly 80 million tonnes of dry carbon, or about 80 billion kg of total wet weight. That is more mass than all wild birds and mammals combined. Ants have been around for over 100 million years, occupy every continent except Antarctica, and collectively outweigh humanity by a factor of roughly 150. They were here first and they will be here last.
Measurements
Average single ant mass4 millionths kg
800 millionthsUS nickels
667 trillionthsAfrican elephants
51.3 trillionthsSpace Shuttle orbiters
~1-5 mg depending on species; ~4 mg average
Average ant body length2 thousandths m
870 trillionthsGreat Barrier Reefs
4.2 hundredthsDominoes
1.3 hundredthsDollar bills
Ranges from 0.75 mm to 52 mm across species; ~2 mm average
Carrying force (single ant)5 thousandths N
100 millionthsHandshake grips
11.4 millionthsBald eagle talons
A single ant can carry 10-50× its body weight
Fastest ant species speed8.6 tenths m/s
2.5 thousandthsSpeeds of sound
2.1 tenthsRunning chickens
1.2 hundredthsGolf ball drives
Saharan silver ant; ~3 km/h, 108 body lengths per second