Hi-Yo, Silver (ants, that is)

And away we go!  (Photo by Fanny Schertzer)

When the Lone Ranger wanted his horse to get a move on, he would shout, “Hi-yo, Silver!”

This would not have been necessary with silver ants.  These critters live in the Sahara Desert, where “sand temperatures can be as high as 140ºF (60ºC).”  You don’t want to drag your feet under those conditions.

So Sahara Silvers make it a point to break most speed records.  They have gotten good at “covering their own body length 108 times in a single second.”  Eat your human hearts out, distance runners!     

Resources

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/the-worlds-fastest-ant-clocks-record-speed-of-108-times-its-own-body-length/