Islands Made Of Ants Seen Floating Around Flooded Areas Of South Carolina

#1

FOX Carolina's Adrian Acosta said what he thought was a pile of mud that he nearly stepped in while covering flood conditions in Greenville County on Sunday was actually an island of ants floating on the surface of the water.

Being the diligent journalist, Acosta recorded video of the floating swarm and nearly 100 people shared the post in less than 24 hours. Many others reported seeing this phenomena as well.

#2

Researchers at National Geographic and Georgia Tech had also documented this behavior.

Turns out, fire ants have the ability to form life rafts out of their own bodies, researchers at Georgia Tech said.

Colonies of ants link together and create a weave that allows the masses to float on the water.

#3

National Geographic states that when waters start to rise, the ants gather their eggs and start weaving living life rafts. The fine layer of hairs on the ants' bodies even traps a layer of air to prevent the ants on the lowest level of the raft from being completely submerged.

The ants can remain in this formation for weeks, if necessary.

Seems that scene in Ant-Man was pretty scientifically accurate.