According to Earthjustice, “each year, nearly a billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed in fields and orchards across America.” Much of this is sprayed during Termite Season – April to August. Ants are particularly susceptible to this menace demolition campaign. Simply put, ants are pests, kill them.
I fully understand the rationale, especially during these summer months. Even as I prepare this blog my family has ant killing pesticides appropriately placed in our South Florida home. However, there is something else about ants we often overlook.
Ants live everywhere. They are loosening and oxygenating soil, adding nutrients to the soil, controlling bug populations, transplanting seeds, pollinating plants and flowers, aiding in decomposition, moving and consuming organic and inorganic material on such a large scale that their impact may never be fully appreciated.
I am no myrmecologist (a scientist who studies ants); however, I have learned a few things about ants that can have a profound impact on human behavior. For instance, the work ethic of ants can put even the most ambitious person to shame.
All day long the ant labors in the hot desert, or a wet rain forest, or the cold tundra sniffing out his food and carrying back his load to the nest, no matter how far the journey or how difficult the terrain. Actually, the load an ant carries around all day can be up to 50 times his own body weight.
Ants are probably the most highly developed social insects. Scientists tell us “each colony of ants contains at least one queen. The workers, who are all sterile females, care for the queen, enlarge, repair and defend the nest, care for the young and gather food. Some workers perform only one job throughout their lives while others may change their tasks. The soldier ants are specialized workers whose function is to guard the nest.” In essence, ants possess amazing organizational skills.
The writer of the Book of Proverbs, invites his readers to learn from ants. At least five profound truths are unpacked from the biblical text. In the first place, the writer contends that ants are not lazy. The writer challenges “the sluggard” to go the ant and learn (Proverbs 6:6). Ants are energetic and full of life. They are aware of the fact that their life span is short and live with energy. Like the Psalmist, we too learn “to number our days aright, that we may gain hearts of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). If we can only live our lives, keeping in mind that life is like a vapor – very brief. Live life with enthusiasm, just like ants.
Proverbs also teaches that ants are self-motivated. They operate with “no commander, no overseer or no ruler.” Myrmecologists confirm this biblical truth – “ants form groups with no single leader, and no hierarchical organizational model.” Ants are driven by a desire to survive and the reality of their own limitations. The words of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy would seem to capture this emphasis, when he said, “Ask not what my country can do for me but what I can do for my country.”
In the third place, we must credit ants with being frugal. According to Proverbs, “they store their provision in summer and gather their food at harvest” (Proverbs 6:8). They know when to reap. They know when to put in storage. Ants know what to spend and what to save. In essence, they know how to balance time and resources. In other words, ants know the seasons of life and plan accordingly.
Not only do ants know opportunities, they also know their limitations. “Ants are creatures of little strength” says the writer of Proverbs (30:25). There are some ants that are one twenty-fifth of an inch. They are limited in size and strength. Their survival depends on community. As mentioned earlier, they are probably the most highly developed social insects. Together, they can strip an orange grove of leaves in one night. However, they cannot survive without community.
Another important credit to ants is the fact that they are wise. Proverbs actually says that “they are extremely wise” (Proverbs 30:24). They know how to apply knowledge – knowledge of seasons, their own physiology, their vulnerabilities and the value of community.
Although limited, they know how to use the resources available to them. Army ants may prey on reptiles, birds, or even small mammals. One Amazon species of ants cooperatively builds extensive traps from plant fiber. These traps have many holes and, when an insect steps on one, hundreds of ants inside use the openings to seize it with their jaws.
Honestly, ants are more than a menace – they are mentors, as they teach us to be frugal, wise, resilient and industrious.
No comments:
Post a Comment