I just finished reading "Journey to the Ants" by Hölldobler and Wilson. The trap jaw ants were my favorite. The authors constantly throughout their book put comparisons into human terms. And if the trap jaw ants were roughly the size of humans, the speed of their closing jaws would be "faster than a rifle bullet." It is the fastest animal motion captured on high speed film. "Springtails" are their favorite food, and are the second fastest thing; sometimes they get away. That springing jump of the trap jaw ant would be the equivalent of broad jumping scores of yards, even virtually straight up, if human size. (I don't recall the exact figure, but you get the idea.)
I recommend the book to anyone interested in ants and other bugs, which ants cross paths with all of the time, usually in a warfare/predatory capacity!
"Compared to the ants humans are a relatively benign species. … If ants developed atomic weapons, they would destroy the earth inside a week." (words to that effect)
Army ants in their varieties, weaver ants, even the common red and black "sidewalk" ants, are all alike in their mysterious behavior and willingness to fight to the death. Some ants are so aggressive that if you are simply passing by within a couple of meters your smell will bring the workers out in a boiling mass and they will do everything in their power to get onto you, never let go and sting until picked off. I'm glad I don't live in the tropics!
Alas, I found nothing in the book to hint at my strange experience with the local carpenter ants back in July of 1982. TMP link
The last point the authors made (on the last page) was the difference between ants and humans. If we suddenly disappeared from the planet all life that we threaten with extinction and deprivation would make a sudden comeback. But if ants suddenly ceased to exist the reverse would be the case: without ants, plants and animals of all kinds would either die out or suffer catastrophic alteration. Ants are an essential part of almost the entire earth's ecosystems.
The single statistic that I enjoy the most, and remember best, is: ants are on average a million times lighter in mass than humans. But if you combined the total weight of ants and that of humans the two species weigh about the same, in other words, ants are roughly a million times more numerous than humans….
begins to think about terrain for Team Yankee.