Scientists surprised after uncovering underground ant city 'equivalent to the Great Wall of China'

Ants are undeniably unique creatures, and their behavior has fascinated and inspired the human mind. From their incredible capacity for coordination to having a great amount of discipline, these tiny creatures are in a league of their own. Their 'superpowers' were shown in the cinematic portrayal of the character "Ant-man" which was largely fictional but at the same time it gave us an idea of how these creatures exist on our planet.

According to Daily Mail, scientists have come across a major development regarding ants after discovering a well-polished underground ant city, which was once home to millions of insects. A BBC-backed documentary named, "Ants: Nature's Secret Power" has uncovered the full details of this unbelievable structure. Talking about its whereabouts, these mammoth underground roadways, pathways, and gardens of the Ant city were found in Brazil.

The documentary sheds light and reveals that this underground city was once home to leafcutter ants. Ants are generally led by the ant Queen and it is the leader's responsibility to create an army of ants to run this form of social structure. Therefore, an ant queen gathers 300 million sperm from her male counterparts. The ant colony is similar to a superorganism and therefore it is tasked with organizing itself to build a giant house. At the same time, these ants have different roles assigned to them, such as gathering vegetation or constructing the colony.

According to this documentary, scientists were tasked with excavating this structure as shown in the video,10 tonnes of concrete were poured into these holes on the surface that the ants used as air conditioning ducts, to reveal the tunnels. The process was time-consuming as it has been said to have taken 10 days as the maze-like tubes were stretching as wide as an area of 500 square feet and reached 26 feet below the surface.

This ant civilization deserved credit for its overall structure as the documentary states that these tiny creatures dug out about 40 tonnes of the earth altogether to build their megacity. These ants were excellent planners as well and their dug pathways helped in efficient transportation and ventilation, with numerous pathways connecting the main chambers and secondary roads found off the main paths. They were engineers in their own right.

On the other hand, these worker ants used to gather vegetation to create fungal gardens. These gardens heavily relied on leaves and provided food for the ant larvae. Other ants were assigned departments like waste management and garbage removal, and were also tasked with preventing parasites like the phorid fly. The bigger and bulkier ants were given the heavier duties of guarding the fortress.

The latest excavation of the Ant City has led scientists to believe that the mammoth structure is the "ant equivalent of the Great Wall of China."