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PuzzleMeDo t1_itkbrlu wrote

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/66523/how-do-anthills-survive-rain

"The ant fortresses you find on your lawn have a number of defenses. The first is the anthill that sits right on top of the nest. The mounds are usually made with special kinds of dirt or sand that absorbs water and dries quickly. Water hitting the convex dirt tends to bead and run off the side.
Some colonies, like mangrove ants, will send a soldier ant to plug up the entrance hole with its head. This living stopper prevents rain from entering but is only a temporary fix, as it blocks gas exchange with the surrounding area outside the anthill.
When heavy rain leads to water entering the tunnel, it usually doesn’t go far. Ants tend to burrow at least a foot underground and have an intricate system of tunnels that work like storm drains. As long as the rainfall isn’t too heavy, the water will pass through the nest without pooling.
With some clever tunneling, ants can trap air in various chambers throughout the nest, and entrances to chambers come from below, preventing water from coming in. "

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danyeaman t1_itl8hpy wrote

Cool thing about the anthills too is they build them around the holes in advance of when its going to rain. Far and away a more reliable source than weather reports. If you see a bunch of anthills then it is going to rain in the next few days. Bigger hills= bigger rain amounts.

This is in the temperate zone of NA, I know tropical ants deal with rain differently at times. Also doesn't work in winter since they are in winter mode.

I have often wondered if I kept an ant colony inside if they would continue that behavior or if they have to be outside to detect a coming storm. Also wondered if anyone ever did an in-depth study to see if there was a predictable time table to the anthills vs rain event.

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SnotTaken23 t1_itlubct wrote

I think you said an important thing different types of ants do different things

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tr3m431 t1_itju0is wrote

Most of the colony is underground to begin with. Any ants above ground will also go underground if it starts to rain.

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jpsam7 OP t1_itjujvu wrote

Won't water penetrate through to the colony?

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atomfullerene t1_itlqk86 wrote

The dirt the colony is in will be more wet after a rain, but the colony itself isn't going to flood with water during a normal rain event. Water poured on the ground tends to soak into the ground...in places where it actually forms puddles, you tend not to get ant nests.

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[deleted] t1_itk1r87 wrote

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