Bible Center Church

Did you know that the wisest man who ever lived spent a lot of time studying ants? In Proverbs 6:6-8, King Solomon suggests to those of us who might be, among other things, “work-ethic-challenged,” to “go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise.” From reading the facts recorded by Solomon, we know that he was well acquainted with the species “Formicidae.”

Ants were plentiful along the shores of the Mediterranean in Solomon’s day and I can just imagine him as a young boy lying on the sand, studying them as they gathered food and cared for

their young. He knew that all the ants in the colony were female, and that they had no overseer or leader, and that In the ant world, they work together as a team taking care of each other.

The cornfield ant, with its symbiotic relationship with aphids, was plentiful in Solomon’s day. He must have watched these ants work 365 days a year as they carefully tended their herds of aphids. Much like we keep herds of cattle for the milk they supply, cornfield ants maintain herds of aphids, protecting them from predators in return for the “milk” that is produced when their abdomens are caressed by the ant’s antennae. In the winter time, cornfield ants move the aphids below ground to feed on roots of plants. Food for the colony all winter long is thereby guaranteed. When it warms up in the spring, the ants bring the aphids topside and the cycle begins again. Hardworking cornfield ants take no vacations.

There is another species of ant, probably not found in Solomon’s world since it is a jungle native, that is amazing in its care of its larvae (baby ants.) The Weaver Ant doesn’t nest in the ground, it lives high in the trees where it weaves the edges of leaves together with silk to form a warm and snug nest. Now, the only source of silk to

make the nest is from a larva––a baby ant––which has a limited amount of silk within it when it hatches from an egg. The newly hatched ant needs its supply of silk to spin a warm blanketed cocoon, later on, so it can become an adult.

In order to build their nests, adult weaver ants know that the only source of silk is from the colony’s larvae. To obtain this silk, an adult ant holds the body of a larva against the edge of a leaf until one end of a silk thread is firmly attached. Then, the larva is carried back and forth from one side of the leaf to the other as its silk is pulled from its body, weaving the edges of the leaf together. Finally, a watertight tent covers the top of the nest. Most of the time, the adult ants are able to leave enough silk within the larva so it can later spin its cocoon and pupate into an adult. They know that without a cocoon the larva will die.

Sometimes, though, there are not enough baby ants in the colony to make the nest and all of the silk from all of them has to be used to cover the top of the nest. As a result, the babies are left naked, vulnerable and unable to survive on their own.

When this happens, do the weaver ants just toss the little ones away and let them die? No, they do not. In another leaf where the temperature and humidity is carefully controlled, a special nursery has already been prepared for the little babies, and ants who act as “nannies” await their arrival. Within this “incubator” the larvae will be able to grow into adults without the aid of their usual silk-blanket cocoons, all because the adult ants value the life of their young and provide the tender care they need to make the transition into adulthood.

I am reminded of the passage in Genesis chapter 4, moments after he had killed his brother. God asks Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And, Cain angrily responds with, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Yes, we are our brother’s “keepers.” We are to take care of the poor, the needy, the weak, the sick, and disabled among us. The weaver ant shows us how.

“Go to the ant . . . and consider her ways and be wise,” says King Solomon.