# Ants and Floods
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 19, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853 "2001-01-19T13:36:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mikehardware](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikehardware)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/1 "2001-01-19T13:36:00Z")
It’s been raining here for several days, and there’s lots of water puddles out in the fields. That got me wondering what ants do when it’s wet. I figure they must be able to wait out normal rain, but what happens with a flood, when the ground is really soaked for an extended period of time?
Are they still able to wait it out underground some way? If not, how long does it take to repopulate afterwards? Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/2 "2001-01-19T14:59:20Z")
Your RL name wouldn’t happen to be “Mike Mollman”, would it?
[http://www.discover.com/ask/main33.html](http://www.discover.com/ask/main33.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Why don’t ants drown in the rain?
>
> Mike Mollman
> Palm Bay, Florida
>
> Harry Howell, entomologist at Texas A&M University in College Station, explains:
>
> Usually the construction of the anthill itself allows water to drain very rapidly…[_more_]
Google hit #2, of 1,190, under “anthill rain”.
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### Author:  [@mikehardware](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikehardware)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/3 "2001-01-19T15:23:29Z")
Thanks for the info. Sorry, but my RL name isn’t Mike. I figured that a normal rain wouldn’t soak down far enough to be much of a bother, but what about flood conditions. Think about a field being underwater for a week or more. When the water receeds, are all the ants gone, or do some manage to survive somehow? How long does it take for things to get back to a normal ant population?
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### Author:  [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2001, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/4 "2001-01-19T15:50:29Z")
You’ve never seem ants in a flood? City Slickers!
Ants Climb onto each other and form a floating ball. The ball floats to higher ground.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/5 "2001-01-19T19:28:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by labdude \*
> \*\*You’ve never seem ants in a flood? City Slickers!
>
> Ants Climb onto each other and form a floating ball. The ball floats to higher ground. \*\*
Thank you for the nightmare fodder.
From [The North Carolina Division of Water Quality](http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/nep/Floyd_Newsletter/page4.html):
> [@](#):
>
> One species that is expected to survive the flood is the fire ant, a major pest with a painful bite. According to Cobb, fire ants are probably one of the most adaptable critters around because they form mounds that actually float in floodwaters.
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/6 "2001-01-19T21:02:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by labdude \*
> Ants Climb onto each other and form a floating ball. The ball floats to higher ground.
I’ve seen this many times (growing up in rural Louisiana teaches you these important things). It’s worth noting that the poor workers on the bottom of the ball do drown, but since they latch themselves together in the process of forming the “boat”, it holds together. You sometimes find nasty little piles of the dead ones on the banks of the flooded area, still hooked together. It doesn’t take long to replace the lost population, once the surviving workers get a new nest built.
Another note: Be careful not to touch the little floating balls with the paddle on your way to your HS graduation. The time required to strip and get rid of all the panicky, biting ants will make you late.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2001, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/7 "2001-01-21T00:14:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Balance \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by labdude \*
> > Ants Climb onto each other and form a floating ball. The ball floats to higher ground.
>
> Another note: Be careful not to touch the little floating balls with the paddle on your way to your HS graduation. The time required to strip and get rid of all the panicky, biting ants will make you late. \*\*
As if the nightmare wasn’t bad enough. Yikes!
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2001, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/8 "2001-01-21T01:25:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Balance \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by labdude \*
> > Ants Climb onto each other and form a floating ball. The ball floats to higher ground.
>
> I’ve seen this many times (growing up in rural Louisiana teaches you these important things). It’s worth noting that the poor workers on the bottom of the ball do drown, but since they latch themselves together in the process of forming the “boat”, it holds together. You sometimes find nasty little piles of the dead ones on the banks of the flooded area, still hooked together. It doesn’t take long to replace the lost population, once the surviving workers get a new nest built.\*\*
As another that grew up in rural Louisiana, I can assure you that this is correct. The little buggers can form their own little island and float for quite a while. Who taught them this, I am not sure, but it is quite a survival strategy.
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### Author:  [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-floods/50853/9 "2001-01-21T02:58:58Z")
hey I’m from Louisiana too. Which Part? I’m from the Lake Charles area.