Going to the Ant to Learn

In Proverbs 6:6-8, we are told to learn from the lowly ant. They don't sit around in their parents' basements, waiting for everyone else to take care of them, wearing safety or diaper pins, complaining about things they don't like in the world. Instead, they are making use of what's available for shelter. Some even build elaborate cities, do farming, and have assigned duties so they can be productive members of their societies.

Leafcutter ants image credit: Wikimedia Commons / Adrian Pingstone

Not only can ants show us how to be productive, but to work together to build their societies. Christians, take note! Also, leafcutter ants are being studied for biomimetics applications, including the bacteria they use to make antibiotics for humans, and are being studied to produce renewable biofuels. Our Creator has given us a great deal to learn from these tiny critters that he designed!

The subterranean city highways are busy with traffic scurrying to and from the suburban markets. The citizens carry out their jobs with abandon, in full accordance with their special callings. A complex communication network ensures the survival of this metropolis, which must manage its food production, defend its citizens from marauding enemies, and regulate the climate. In some cities, caverns are set aside for shepherds to tend their flocks; and in other communities, collective farmers plant, prune, and harvest food from underground gardens.

These sound like modern human cities, but they’re not. Welcome to the wonderful world of ants, some of God’s most able architects, who have built an astonishing array of charming cities around the world.

To read the rest of this extremely interesting article (or get the free audio download), click on "Miniature Metropolises". Also, here is a short video on leafcutter ants (with the obligatory homages to evolution and millions of years, but those do not ruin the good science contained therein).




Our Creator has provided us with learning opportunities from many sources. The ant shows us the values of being productive and industrious, and are being studied for biomimetics.