They're itching to show off their skills! Weightlifting ants exhibit their superhuman strength by lifting PENCILS
- Vietnamese photographer Thanh Ha Bui captured the incredible images
- He had spotted a line of weaver ants marching across a branch
- Then experimented with the ants to see how strong they really were
Exibiting their superhuman strength these ants look ready to create an art attack by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight.
Vietnamese photographer Thanh Ha Bui captured these incredible images in his parents back garden and, after spotting a line of super strong weaver ants marching across a branch, decided to test their legendary weightlifting skills.
First experimenting with pieces of food and leaves, he eventually ended up with this incredible shot - with each ant displaying a high level of strength.
Weaver Ants displaying their super strength by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight
Mr Bui, 31, a construction worker and freelance photographer, explained how he has been fascinated with the weaver ant - renowned as the bodybuilder of the insect kingdom - ever since observing them on a trip to Brazil.
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He said: 'One day I was looking at the trees in my parents garden - trees are one of my great inspirations - and all of a sudden I noticed this line of ants seemed to be staring at me.
'I remembered seeing some just like these when I was travelling in Florianopolis in Brazil where I saw a line of ants carrying beautiful tiny flowers.
Vietnamese photographer Thanh Ha Bui captured this incredible image in his parents' back garden
The weaver ant is renowned as the bodybuilder of the insect kingdom as they can lift items several thousand times their own weight
He offered the ants food but said that he had no idea they would turn out so strong
'I had the idea to try and interact with them by offering them food like potato peelings and pieces of coconut that served as compost at the foot of the tree but I had no idea they would turn out to be so strong.
'As time went on it became kind of a game - a moment of taming. I started to entice them with food and tried out all kinds of different objects to see if they could carry them.
'I started with leaves and then moved on to chillis, then pieces of paper and flowers.
'I was absolutely stunned by their strength. Nothing compares to it. Even my photographer friends think that it's a fake photo as it's so unbelievable.
A lone ant attempts to carry a comparatively gigantic chilli along the length of a tree branch
All of the ants team up to carry the chilli and its long stem
'In comparison, it would be like a human being holding a whale.'
Weaver ants are known as the champion weightlifters of the insect world. On average, they measure just four to ten millimetres in length, but can carry items many hundreds of times their own weight with their super strong jaws.
This is the equivalent of the average man hoisting 19,000lbs with his teeth.
Mr Bui said: 'They remind me of tiny bodybuilders.
'They are quite human in the way they communicate and plan their daily lives and, like us, they are quite social creatures.'
'As I watched them, I was like a child, deeply marvelled every single time I gave them something new - a piece of paper, a chilli, a pencil, two pencils and more and more.
'They were accepting and holding the items naturally. It seems such a simple thing at first glance, but this simplicity gave me such an unexpected joy. It was a communion with nature.'
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