Science Friday

How A Woodpecker Pecks Wood, And How Ants Crown A Queen

November 17, 2025

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  • Woodpeckers generate extreme pecking force by engaging muscles across their entire body, from their head and neck down to their tail and hips, and by exhaling forcefully (grunting) during each strike. 
  • Woodpeckers manage the high impact of pecking because their small brain mass prevents the g-force required to cause a concussion upon impact with the skull. 
  • The caste of an ant (queen vs. worker) is determined by environmental factors, primarily the amount and type of food the larva receives, illustrating extreme phenotypic plasticity where genetically identical eggs can develop into vastly different individuals. 

Segments

Woodpecker Pecking Mechanics
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(00:00:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Woodpeckers engage muscles from head to tail, including hips, to generate pecking force.
  • Summary: Woodpeckers engage muscles across their entire body, including head, neck, tail, and hips, to generate the force needed for drilling. They can peck with a force equivalent to 20 to 30 times their body weight, concentrating this force onto a pinpoint. This whole-body engagement is necessary to build up the required striking power.
Woodpecker Grunting Power
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(00:02:50)
  • Key Takeaway: Woodpeckers exhale forcefully (grunt) during each strike to stabilize core muscles and add power.
  • Summary: Woodpeckers grunt through each strike, similar to how athletes exhale for power during exertion. This forceful exhalation stabilizes core muscles, which adds extra power to their strikes. They can exhale on every strike, achieving up to 13 strikes per second.
Kickback Management Choreography
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(00:04:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Woodpeckers use a precise sequence of muscle activations to power into the wood and prevent flying backward.
  • Summary: To manage kickback, woodpeckers first activate neck muscles to pull the head forward, followed by hip flexors to pull the body forward. Their tail braces against the tree, and muscles on the back of the head stiffen just before impact. They then power into the strike, exhaling, and inhale measuredly while pulling back out.
Woodpecker Tongue Myth Debunked
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(00:07:51)
  • Key Takeaway: The woodpecker tongue wraps around the outside of the skull for storage and spearing prey, not as a brain shock absorber.
  • Summary: The popular myth that the woodpecker tongue wraps around the brain as a shock absorber is false; the tongue wraps around the outside of the skull. The tongue functions as a projectile, ending in a barb used to spear insects in drilled holes. Concussions are avoided because the brain’s small mass prevents it from building enough g-force to smack the skull hard enough to cause injury.
Ant Queen Determination Mystery
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(00:10:11)
  • Key Takeaway: Genetically identical ant eggs can develop into queens or workers based on larval feeding, demonstrating extreme phenotypic plasticity.
  • Summary: In some ant species, two genetically identical eggs can develop into either a large, long-lived queen or a small, short-lived worker based on treatment during the larval stage. This caste determination is largely influenced by the amount and type of food larvae receive, similar to how royal jelly affects honeybee development. This process is an extreme example of nature versus nurture in developmental biology.
Caste Determination Timing
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(00:17:23)
  • Key Takeaway: The timing for initiating the queen development program varies significantly across ant species, ranging from the egg stage to late larval metamorphosis.
  • Summary: The determination of whether an ant becomes a queen is a complex process that varies by species. In some ants, the caste fate is determined very early, almost at the egg stage. In others, the decision is made later during the larval stage, becoming clear only when the larva enters pupation.