In the Brazilian rain forest, sudden rainfall can trigger flooding at a moment's notice. Given that flooding can potentially destroy a colony and drown the insects, fire ants have developed a unique adaptation to this situation. While individual fire ants are hydrophobic and flounder at the waters surface, large groups of ants can link together to form a living raft. As the queen and larvae are evacuated from the flooding colony, they sit upon this living raft, floating along the waterline until reaching some solid land.
The importance of flexibility in this self-assembled ant raft is several fold. The extra weight-bearing that flexibility imparts is vital as hungry fish will swim along the underside of the raft and eat at many of the members. Furthermore, as waves travel along the water surface, the ant raft's flexibility allows it to effectively "roll" with the wave and minimize disturbances it would otherwise cause for a similar but rigid structure.