Image of three red ants marching across planet Earth

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Planet of the Ants

Ants! They seem to be everywhere—on trees and lawns, on benches and sidewalks, and maybe even in your kitchen. 

But how many of these tiny insects are on our planet? Thanks to a recent study, scientists think they have the answer: more than 20 quadrillion. That’s 20 followed by 15 zeros. That means for each living person, there are about 2.5 million ants!

Scientist Patrick Schultheiss led the study. He and his team calculated that giant number by examining data that had been collected about ants around the world over eight years.

“We found that the weight of all the ants on Earth is higher than the weight of all wild birds and wild mammals combined,” Schultheiss says. 

People often think of ants as pests, but they play a valuable role in the environment. Among other things, ants dig tunnels in soil that help plants get the water and nutrients they need to grow. Ants also spread seeds that enable new plants to grow.

“I think we can now start to appreciate just how important they are,” Schultheiss says.

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