Incredible Facts

Do you think that the most beautiful ancient and modern architectural monuments were created by people?

So you haven't seen underground ant colonies that stretch further than the Great Wall of China, or termite mounds that are nearly twice the height of the world's tallest skyscraper.

Here are the most impressive animal architects and builders and the most amazing architectural structures in the animal kingdom.

Towering Termites: Massive Engines of the Earth

Termites are amazing creatures for any indicator. Queens are 30 times larger than workers and soldiers and produce about 30 eggs per minute to keep the colony alive.

Termites are also capable of building the largest structures in the animal kingdom.

So, 10 centimeter creatures can build towers that weigh hundreds of tons that reach up to 7.5 meters in height and 12 meters in diameter.

And that's just the buildings above ground. It is also known that they can dig holes up to 70 m underground.

Ordinary public weavers: architects of bird apartments

The so-called common social weavers are among the friendliest birds in the sky. They join forces and take on entire trees to create a structure that can be described as an amazing apartment.

Instead of building separate nests, the birds join up to 300 pairs and build huge nests up to 7.5 m wide, 1.5 m high, with a separate room for each pair.

A huge apartment complex helps birds to keep warm in winter and cool in summer, and teamwork ensures the excellent condition of the "apartments" throughout the year.

Also common social weavers share their home with other birds, falcons and finches.

Naked digger: amazing underground diggers

These indefatigable diggers are distinguished by a unique social organization among mammals, as well as massively organized creatures such as ants, wasps, bees and termites, only they are much larger and scarier in appearance. In addition, they are essentially cold-blooded and do not feel pain at all.

Almost all of these strange creatures live together in the same underground habitat, which they dig with their disproportionate big teeth located in front of the lips, not behind them, which prevents the swallowing of dirt.

Naked diggers live up to 28 years, and their colonies feed on tubers that weigh a thousand times more than one naked mole rat.

Ants: super-strong underground diggers

The largest ant colony discovered to date spans 6437 km across Europe.

This super colony is believed to have about a billion ants. Each of us knows that ants are amazing builders who are able to carry several times more weight than themselves, but few have managed to see their amazing underground structures.

So, excavations of one of the colonies of ants in Southeast Asia led to the discovery of a complex that surpassed the wildest fantasies.

When they dug a colony measuring 46 square meters and a depth of 7.6 meters, they found many transit tunnels, incoming and outgoing ventilation branches, mushroom gardens and garbage pits.

Caddisflies: unique underwater builders

Unlike other animal architecture, caddisflies and their structures are not massive mega-structures. On the contrary, caddisflies create miniature architecture, but they do it with special artistry and versatility.

The larval forms of these underwater architects use whatever materials are available, from sand to shells, sticks and debris, to build themselves a mobile shell that protects them and provides natural camouflage as they grow.

Eventually, they grow a stinger and float to the surface, where they shed their unique architectural creations, spread their wings, and fly away.

beavers: bestengineers

Beavers are able to build dams using their strong teeth to gnaw through the bark.

These dams protect them from predators such as wolves and allow them to create ponds deep enough where they can build their homes.

Their houses, called huts, have an entrance underwater where predators cannot climb.

The longest dam in the world, built by beavers, lasted more than a decade and reaches 853 meters in length.

At least two families of beavers worked to build this record-breaking structure.

Spiders: the biggest web builders

As a rule, spiders fight for their territory and prey, preferring to eat their enemies and build independent solitary webs.

However, there are also giant webs built by thousands of spiders who worked together to build a web that extends 180 m.

Building webs in groups is unusual behavior, but scientists believe that the abundance of edible insects that appear after heavy rains, led the spiders to choose cooperation over conflict.

Thanks to architectural buildings, man has changed appearance Earth. In the animal world, we also meet builders at every step, whose work is admirable.
Wonderful weavers. Most spiders spin webs. The convenient location of the spider glands in the abdomen, where there is enough space for them, helped to develop the ability to weave spiders, it can turn into a real "spider plant". The cross spider secretes a thin sticky silky fiber from the spider web warts. It first attaches the end of the fiber to a branch, then pulls horizontally to another branch, where it attaches the other end. Thus, a structure known as a "web" is formed.
Termites. Talented builders in the animal kingdom. The buildings of these "architects" are pillars of hardened clay, which often reach five meters in height. Usually, they are fortified with branches or tunnel systems that branch out into many corridors. Termites use a variety of materials to build their towers, mostly pure clay or clay mixed with pieces of wood on which they feed. The walls of these structures can be up to fifty centimeters thick, and their hardness is often not inferior even to stone. Some species of termites use animal stool for construction. Termites have their chambers deep underground. They have a variety of purposes. Young growth grows in some chambers, while others are adapted for "mushroom gardens". Termites in their "skyscrapers" build high-rise residential areas connected by numerous "bridges" and spiral passages. Many different animals build nests or burrows for themselves. Most of these buildings are almost invisible and safely hidden among the bushes. However, there are truly "great architects" whose creations capture our imagination. In the world of spiders, insects, birds and mammals, famous architects meet their own.
SHELLS. Even invertebrates are able to create complex structures. Many types of snails and all bivalves have hard shells, often very unusual shape that protect their soft bodies. For the formation of the shell in mollusks, special glands correspond. By the way, roundworm in cats is treated efficiently and quickly.
The shells of many types of mollusks are real works of art. One of the most beautiful shells is the nautilus shell. It is formed by curls divided into chambers. The closer to the head, the larger the clam's chamber. These chambers contain gas, thanks to which the mollusk regulates the level of immersion in water. The body of the nautilus is in the last chamber. In the process of growth, the nautilus must create all the capacious chambers of its "house".

A baby mouse in tall grass or in a field builds a nest that can be mistaken for a bird's - it almost does not differ from the last. A baby mouse ties grass leaves to grass stems, and thus creates a spherical structure in which it brings up offspring. Many mammals burrow underground burrows, consisting most often of a direct corridor and a chamber located at the end of the tunnel. Mole builds a house with a complex system of tunnels, a bedroom and storerooms. American prairie dogs dig long holes, both ends of which are on the same mound. Thanks to this, fresh air can circulate freely throughout the "building". Beavers are one of the most famous builders. With their long and sharp teeth they "cut" small trees that form the basis of the dam. In the center of the formed dam, the beavers make their huts. The entrance holes in them are located under water.
BIRDS
Some birds, such as kingfisher, bee-eater and sand martin, dig their holes in steep sandy cliffs. characteristic feature These burrows are deep nesting chambers, in which individual pairs or entire groups of birds then settle. Most birds are known to build nests. Some nests are very complex structures. African weavers from different parts plants weave large covered hanging baskets, which they diligently attach to the branch with stems.
INSECTS. Many mollusks create shells for life to protect their bodies, and some insects use hiding places only for a short time. In clear streams under stones, caddisfly larvae can be found. Some of them build covers from spider webs, to which they add grains of sand, small stones, twigs or leaves. Buildings of social species of insects - ants, wasps, bees and termites - give shelter to thousands of individuals. Some ants sew their houses together from leaves, so their structures partly resemble tents. Worker ants first draw the edges of leaves growing nearby to each other, and then sew them together. The same silk fiber serves as a thread for them.

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Animal builders

Many animals build strong burrows where they eat, sleep, hide from enemies, raise their young, and also hide from piercing cold or hot heat. Some of the animals build their dwellings in the water. Others "weave" hanging nests close to the neighboring ones, settle in hundreds and lead a social way of life. There are animals that build high ground dwellings, inside of which there are passages and chambers. different sizes, and life there proceeds as in a well-organized state.

Stitched nest

Tailor ants living in tropical and sub tropical forests, build nests from leaves rolled into a tube. To do this, some of them connect the ends of two leaves with jaws and paws, others "sew" them. Threads for this are given by ant larvae, each of which contains a sticky substance. Ants lightly press on the larvae, and glue comes out of them, as if from tubes. This does not harm the larvae in any way, and they continue to develop normally.

beaver house

Beavers used to be very common in Europe, Asia, and North America. Now they are under the protection of the law, because a huge number of them were exterminated because of the beautiful fur and the musk they secrete, which is used in the perfume industry. The beaver is one of the heaviest rodents, it can weigh up to 30 kg. The beaver is an excellent swimmer, he has swimming membranes on his hind legs and a very strong tail, which he uses as a rudder. Beavers eat fresh bark and young shoots of trees, which they cut with long incisors. In autumn, beavers stock up for the winter and store them near their home. For their houses, beavers bring branches, bushes and tree trunks from the nearest forest to the river; they use grass, stones and silt as a bonding material. The cone-shaped hut that the beavers build has a ventilation hole at the top and can be up to 1.8 m high. The entrance to the hut is always located under water. If the water is very low, beavers build a dam and turn part of the river into a reservoir where you can swim and dive perfectly. In addition, the dam serves to protect the home of the beaver from attack by enemies. Beaver dams stand for quite a long time. Some were built by previous generations. The record among such dams is the dam of the beaver family in Montana - its length is 685 m.

hanging cities

In the savannahs of southwest Africa live social weavers - small birds, but great builders. They place their public nests, which can be up to 5 m in diameter, on tree branches or telegraph poles. There are more than 100 holes on the underside of this huge nest, each of which leads to a separate small "apartment" of a bird couple, in whose privacy the neighbors do not interfere.

termite mound

For life, termites of the dry savannah of Africa need to maintain a constant temperature in the dwelling. Therefore, when building their huge solid dwelling, they must take care of good ventilation and thermoregulation in the labyrinths of numerous chambers and galleries. The dimensions of the termite mound are impressive in themselves, but its internal structure is also surprising. The passages in the walls play the role of an air conditioner: warm air rises, gives off heat and falls down.
Nests of termites living in tropical rainforests are equipped with "umbrellas" that prevent water from getting inside. The African savannah is littered with termite mounds built from red clay particles glued together with saliva. These houses with a "pipe" reach 9 m in height.

In the state of termites, roles are already distributed from birth. The queen's only concern is laying eggs. Millions of termite workers provide food, keep the "palace" clean and tidy. The termite queen, which occupies a special chamber in the depths of the termite mound, is the largest individual in the colony. The king who mates with her, the workers who feed her, and the soldiers who protect her are much smaller. The queen is a long-liver among insects, she can live for decades.

Mobile home

The cephalopod nautilus (ship) lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. His house is a mother-of-pearl spiral shell, divided into a large number of cameras. The diameter of the shell can reach 25 cm. The nautilus lives in the outermost chamber, the others are filled with air and connected to the mollusk with a tube. The air pressure in the chambers is regulated by glands and allows the nautilus to float up and down.

Some animals need a warm and safe place to live, while others want to live like kings. These 13 creatures are the best architects in the animal kingdom.

Animals are very careful when it comes to building their home, be it a nest, a hive or a dam (in the case of beavers), they choose only the most best materials. Without cranes, cement and iron, these animals create truly amazing structures, causing envy and respect from us.

common public weaver

Ordinary social weavers live in the territories South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They create these huge nests where hundreds of birds can live for generations. The nests are made of sticks and grass, built to last and keep the heat very well.

Australian tailor ant

These ants live in Central Africa And South-East Asia. They glue the leaves with larval silk.

red-eared whistler

The males of these birds build small huts out of grass and sticks to attract females for mating. Like real designers, they decorate their homes with berries, insects and other bright elements. Oddly enough, females do not use these houses to raise offspring.

termites

Termites build their nests in the form of large wedge-shaped mounds. Buildings are always oriented from north to south, which allows them to regulate the temperature inside.

bees

The whole life of honey bees revolves around their hive. They build their dwellings from wax, make honey in them and raise offspring.

European ant forest small

They build anthills in the form of large mounds on a grass substrate. Several mounds can be connected to each other, allowing the colony to escape in case of danger.

Red stove-maker

The red stove-maker builds his nest out of clay and mud. Their nests protect them from predators and are generally a very safe place.

baya weaver

The baya weaver builds its nest in trees above bodies of water where predators cannot reach.

Wasp

beavers

Beavers build durable dikes and dams that allow them to survive the cold, shelter from predators, and hunt. Their dams can be really big, the largest one was found in national park Wood Buffalo in Canada, and it was 850 meters long.

Oropendola Montezuma

Oropendola-Montecuma builds its nests on thin vines and grass. They usually live in colonies of 30 birds, each with only one dominant male.

Martin

Some swallows can live in the same nest for several years in a row, only making it easy redecorating. They make their nests from a variety of materials, including saliva, clay, and grass. The nests of some swallows are edible and are considered a delicacy.

caddis

When the time comes for the caddisfly to create a chrysalis, he literally clings to everything. Sand, shells, pebbles and pebbles, interspersed with his silk, turn into a safe cocoon.

builds huts and dams

A rodent with valuable fur living along forest rivers

Rodent animal with valuable fur

Gunboat (Russia, 1905)

semi-aquatic mammal of the rodent order

A furry animal with an "engineering education"

A river in the Vitebsk and Minsk regions of Belarus, the left tributary of the Berezina River

Beast from Canadian coins

Furry rodent with valuable brown fur

. "fur reclamator"

For this animal, the tail is an excellent rudder, as well as an excellent regulator of body temperature.

It was this animal, considered a symbol of hard work, enterprise and peacefulness, that was depicted on the first Canadian stamp.

Forest hydro builder

The beast on Onegin's collar

tributary of the Berezina

Which animal is the best lumberjack?

Submarine carpenter

Rodent, suborder squirrels

Rodent builder with valuable fur

Rodent Lumberjack

fur animal

Rodent with white teeth

Rodent with strong teeth

Beast - "hydraulic engineer"

animal with strong teeth

Nutria - swamp ...

Strongtooth Rodent

Hut Builder

Dam Beast

Rodent hydraulic engineer

Beast with white teeth

Animal with teeth

Nutria or swamp ...

Animal, dam builder

Fur dam builder

river rodent lumberjack

Rodent with valuable fur

lumberjack among animals

semi-aquatic rodent

Inhabitant of the hut

Fur builder of underwater huts

The beast that is kind

Fur dam builder

Rodent dam builder

. "evil" - a rodent

Builder of dams and lodges

large rodent

rodentbuilder

Most large rodent Europe

What kind of rodent builds huts?

Coated River Builder

Who is a sea otter?

. "Evil" from rodents

Rodent with fin tail

Rodent - "lumberjack"

Forest lumberjack and builder

waterfowl rodent

Rodent hydraulic builder

Toothy "submariner"

fur rodent

Water "architect"

Valuable fur rodent

The Beast, the dam builder

River rodent with valuable fur

An animal from the order of rodents with valuable fur

Rodent with valuable fur

River, left tributary of the Berezina

. "Evil" from rodents

. "Evil" - a rodent

. "Fur reclamator"

beaver m. two animals are heterogeneous, of which, for the sake of distinction, it would be better to call one a beaver, the other a beaver, as others did: the river beaver, the builder beaver, Castor Fiber, which now occasionally comes across in the western bays. and in Siberia, lives in communities in Canada; it is the builder of huts and dams; sea, Kamchatka beaver, sea ​​otter(river, see otter), Lutra s. Enydris marina (inappropriately named rokkun by scientists; raccoon called rakun; see also babr), delivering expensive fur to collars. They are beaten by the Kurils and Aleuts in the sea with arrows from the booths. Kill a beaver, that is, a pig instead of a beaver, dialect. about failure. What is a beaver, beaver? Dirty beaver. Beaver with a pig. To kill a beaver does not see good; changed: not to kill not to be seen. Silver beaver, with a gray, white awn. a batman from a beaver (collar) pulls my gray hair, seeing that the master is pulling it out of his head. From a beaver a beaver, from a pig a piglet. Near the beaver, do not rob, but rip everything off. All husbands are kind, they bought beavers for their wives; and my husband is clumsy: unseen, he bought a cow. The people of Kalyazin bought a pig for a beaver. All are equal beavers, I am the only sable. All beavers are kind to their beavers. Bobrenok m. young, cub, Kamch. purse; one-year-old beaver, kamch. yarets. Beaver collar. Nastya, Nastenka, red fur coat: Chernobrova herself, beaver's edge. Beaver spout, Castoreum, a pharmacy drug found in a special purse in the river beaver, like a musk deer spout in a musk deer. Beaver rutting, rutting, fishing, places where the river beaver is found and caught: once all over Russia, but now almost nowhere. Beaver Wed old beaver rut duty. Beaver, beaver, beaver. beaver meat. Bobrovka beaver hat. Bobrovnik m. old. beaver catcher; plant Spartium, beaver; plant Menyanthes trifoliata, trefoil, beaver, shamrock, troel, watch, moon, arrow, pawn. Bobrovik is also a plant. Sarothamnus scoparius, dereza, iron ore, millstone. Name herbs: iron ore, iron ore, not from iron, but from the gland, as a cure for the throat, toads (except for iron grass, rezuha, and fabulous jumping grass). Kalyazin residents of beavers (n) iki: they bought a pig for a beaver

tree dam maker

Water "architect"

Rodent - builder of underwater huts

Rodent, dam builder

Rodent "lumberjack"

Rodent- "lumberjack"

Beast - "hydraulic engineer"

Toothy "submariner"

What rodent builds huts

Which animal is the best lumberjack

Who is a sea otter

Fur animal with "engineering education"