Photo of weightlifting ant wins U.K. prize
Last Updated: Monday, February 22, 2010 | 3:23 PM ET
CBC News
This photo of an Asian weaver ant carrying a weight while using the sticky pads on its feet to walk upside down won the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council photography prize. (Thomas Endlein, University of Cambridge)A photo of an ant hanging upside down and carrying 100 times its own body weight has won a science photo contest in the U.K.
Zoologist Thomas Endlein of Cambridge University snapped the shot of the Asian weaver ant carrying a 500-milligram weight in its jaws while sticking to a glass-smooth ceiling.
The ants have sticky pads on their feet that allow them to walk upside down while still enabling them to run quickly across a surface when they need to.
Endlein's research into the ants has helped biologists understand how insects can walk on vertical and inverted surfaces without getting stuck to them.
The weaver ant gets its name from the nests it builds by weaving together leaves with silk. The ant has been used for natural pest control in citrus orchards in China and Southeast Asia for 1,500 years.
Endlein won $1,130 in vouchers for photographic equipment from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council for his picture.
"The creative flair shown by scientists in our community is impressive, and their skill in using photographs to communicate ideas in bioscience is highly commendable," said Paul Gemmill, the council's director of communications, in a statement.
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