By Amy Walters
THESE super ants have been captured hauling fruit THREE TIMES their weight back to their nests.
In one image, a tiny weaver ant could be seen as it balanced a wild cherry on top of its head and used its arms and legs to keep balance whilst in between a torn leaf.
Another image captured the moment five two-centimetre ants joined together in unison whilst on a branch, as they held up their own pieces of wild cherry ready to take back to their nests.
The spectacular images were shot by Dzul Dzulfikri (48) from Beksai, Indonesia, who captured the balancing ants in his back garden from just one-foot away.
Dzul captured these images using a Panasonic Lumix G9 camera with a 100-300mm lens.
“I was out in my back garden, when I spotted a group of ants balancing something colourful on top of their heads,” Dzul said.
“As I looked closer, I noticed that they were balancing wild cherries of all different colours which I believe they must have found on the ground.
“I watched as they hauled these giant cherries – which must have been three times their weight – back to their nests.
“Ants love sweet and tasty treats, so the wild cherry was a perfect pick for them to take back to their respective nests.
“I believe there were around fifty ants per nest and although it’s hard to tell how long it took for them to devour the cherries, they would have sucked them up in an instant once they got a taste.
“I was so happy to have captured these ants, as it’s always enjoyable watching nature, but it was such a surprise getting to see how strong these ants are.”
Weaver ants can reach up to one-inch at full adult size and are known for their large colonies which can reach up to 500,000 members. These ants can carry up to three-times their own body weight and are native to Australia and South East Asia.
