These little ants that are hurrying along on their journey for a new home are safari ants, or siafu ants in Swahili. They’re a remarkable insect that live throughout Africa, mostly in the eastern areas of the continent, and even in some areas in Asia.
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They’re a fascinating insect with considerable destructive power in the strong jaws of their soldiers, but also with many positive uses that can be beneficial to human society, such as naturally keeping pest populations in line, and even having limited medical purposes.
This footage of a migrating colony of ants is from the tent of some campers at Porini Lion Camp in the Masai Mara, and it reportedly took three days for the flow of ants to pass completely.
Shopping For A New Neighbourhood
These ants are a source of pest control, consuming the eggs and larvae of other insects, and even being capable of eating animals like large rats when they have enough numbers on their side.
Unlike many other species of ant, however, they only live in one area for as long as there is a food source. Once their food runs out, they will mobilize the entire colony in a mass migration in search of a new place to call home.
Colonies of safari ants can number into the tens of millions, and they will carry their larvae with them on their journey for a new home. Due to their speed, most of the workers are little more than a blur, but the little white larvae are clearly visible in the footage like grains of rice on a motorway.
Insect Highway
While moving, the safari ants form their own little roads to use, and they can move more than fifteen meters in a single hour, which is a lot of movement for such little legs.
They’re too small to make any kind of real trail, but in order to keep the population safe, the soldiers take up positions on either side of the route, which forms a little corridor along the ground for the workers to use.
Despite their size, these ants can be remarkably destructive, as if their path crosses anything that doesn’t move, they won’t adjust their route, and instead will eat their way through any obstacles.
Steadfast Soldiers
These soldier ants that protect the rest of the colony are well-adapted to offer protection to the workers. They’re noticeably bigger, with their large heads looming over the corridor they’ve created for the workers.
These soldiers have a particularly painful bite, with their jaws being big enough to leave behind two separate puncture wounds, an impressive feat for an insect of this size.
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Not Your Average Ant
These ants might be extremely aggressive, but they can be useful for humans, aside from their natural habit of keeping pests under control. Their jaws can actually be used as a natural way to encourage healing.
Maasai communities make use of the soldier ants, and their powerful jaws, as emergency staples for wounds. By encouraging the ant to bite on either side of a cut, and then breaking away the body to leave the head, the jaws of the ant can hold the wound shut for days.
Thus sealed, the wound can begin to heal naturally, making this a very special ant.