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When you think of ants, you likely picture tiny insects marching in long lines, building anthills, or invading picnic spots. Individually, ants may appear insignificant due to their minute size — most measuring only a few millimeters in length. However, collectively, ants are a dominant force on Earth, especially in terms of biomass.
Recent studies and biological surveys indicate that the combined weight of all ants on Earth may surpass that of the entire human population. This surprising fact offers insight into just how abundant ants are, their ecological role, and what it tells us about life on Earth.
In this in-depth article, we’ll explore the scientific studies, population estimates, ecological implications, and the fascinating biology of ants that support this astonishing comparison.
Understanding Biomass: What Does “Total Weight” Mean?
Before diving into numbers, it’s important to clarify what we mean by “total weight.” Scientists often use the term biomass, which refers to the total mass of living organisms in a given area or ecosystem — usually measured in metric tons of carbon to standardize the comparison.
This allows researchers to compare vastly different creatures — from elephants to bacteria — by evaluating their overall contribution to the planet’s living matter.
The Global Ant Population: How Many Ants Are There?
Determining the global ant population is an incredibly challenging endeavor.. However, a groundbreaking 2022 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) conducted the most comprehensive meta-analysis to date.
Key Findings:
- There are approximately 20 quadrillion ants on Earth.
(That’s 20,000,000,000,000,000 ants!) - All the ants on Earth combined weigh about 12 million tons in dry carbon, which is a massive amount of biomass.
For comparison, the average adult human weighs around 62 kg, and with a global population of 8 billion people, the total human biomass is estimated at around 60 million metric tons. However, when adjusted for dry carbon mass — the typical method for cross-species comparisons — humans contribute around 60–70 megatons of carbon.
So, while ants may not outweigh humans in every biomass comparison, in specific environmental biomass contexts, ant biomass rivals or surpasses human biomass — especially when compared in terms of dry body weight and ecological density.
Breaking Down the Numbers: Ant Weight vs Human Weight
Ant Biomass Calculation:
Let’s do a simplified breakdown based on research estimates.
- An individual ant typically weighs between 2 and 5 milligrams, or 0.000002 to 0.000005 kilograms.
- Scientists estimate there are around 20 quadrillion ants on Earth—that’s a 2 followed by 16 zeros!
- Combined weight of ants:
- Lower estimate: 2 × 10¹⁶ × 0.000002 = 40 million metric tons
- Upper estimate: 2 × 10¹⁶ × 0.000005 = 100 million metric tons
Thus, even conservatively, ants could weigh at least 40–100 million metric tons combined. That’s potentially more than all the humans combined, depending on the measurement method (wet weight vs dry weight).
