Abundant! 20,000,000,000,000,000 ants roam Earth

THEY are tiny creatures who play a giant role in the life of our planet.

Now the number of ants on Earth has been calculated at a mind-blowing 20 quadrillion – or two and a half million for every human being.

Ants help plants and animals to thrive by dispersing seeds, aerating soil – and acting as prey for predators.

Experts say that if every ant was put on a scale, they would outweigh all wild birds and mammals put together and be equal to 20 per cent of the weight of humans.

The 20 quadrillion figure was calculated by researchers at the University of Wurzburg in Germany.

They said the number is so big it is ‘unimaginable’ with a single quadrillion the equivalent of a million billion. Biologist Dr Sabine Nooten, from the research team, said: ‘That is a 20 with 15 zeros, which is hard to grasp and appreciate.’

The team said even the gigantic number probably under-estimates the total population of the insects. Determining the number of ants is important for measuring alterations to their habitat – including those caused by climate change. Earlier estimates at the global ant population resulted in far smaller numbers. For the new estimate, researchers analysed 465 studies which attempted to ‘count’ ants locally. Scientists say there are more than 15,700 named species and sub-species of ants – and probably an equal number which have yet to be described.

Nearly two-thirds of them are found in tropical forests and savannahs.