Surprisingly, a significant number of animals, including those we typically consider industrious, spend a considerable amount of their time seemingly idle. Observations of social insect communities, such as ants or bees, reveal that roughly less than half of the population are often stationary, appearing to do nothing.
Ant Pheromone Experiment: Life in the Ant Graveyard
Upon death, ants emit a specific chemical that signals their demise, prompting fellow ants to remove and dispose of the deceased. In an intriguing experiment, a scientist successfully synthesized this chemical and applied it to a living ant. Despite the ant’s persistent efforts to clean itself, resist being carried, or return to its duties, its comrades continually escorted it to the designated graveyard. This behavior demonstrates the power of chemical communication within ant colonies, which relies on a complex system of pheromones to regulate tasks, coordinate activities, and maintain colony organization.
If you ever got shrunk down…
If you ever got shrunk down to the size of an ant, not only would everything look bigger to you, but the world would also appear almost a million times darker, light would no longer appear straight meaning that the world around you would be covered in a haze of blurriness and shadow
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Ants have designated paramedics…
Ants have designated paramedics that are assigned to rescue their wounded soldiers, carry them back to their nest and help them heal by gently holding the hurt limb in place with their mandibles and front legs while intensely “licking” the wound for up to 4 minutes.
Once a year in parts of England…
Once a year in parts of England flying ants migrate. Seagulls catch and eat them and then become drunk off the ants’ formic acid, causing them to crash into buildings and moving cars.
Ants are self aware. In an…
Ants are self aware. In an experiment researchers painted blue dots onto ants bodies, and presented them with a mirror. 23 out of 24 tried scratching the dot, indicating that the ants could see the dots on themselves. 00
Worker ants take hundreds..
Worker ants take hundreds of 1-2 minute naps per day, so that they can essentially work around the clock. There is something similar in humans called polyphasic sleep. While many claim that polyphasic sleep was widely used by some polymaths and prominent people such as Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon, and Nikola Tesla, there are few […]
Between 63rd and 76th streets…
Between 63rd and 76th streets in New York City, scientists discovered an ant species found nowhere else on earth. It has been nicknamed the “ManhattAnt.” 00
Ants are skilled farmers…
Ants are skilled farmers. Many species of ants purposely grow an edible fungus inside the nest that the ants feed upon, to ensure that the nest isn’t wiped out by starvation when food is scarce. 00
Ants enslaved by other ant species rebel against their…
Ants enslaved by other ant species rebel against their masters by neglecting the work they’re assigned to do, and even killing the master species’ young. The slaves may not be able to save themselves, but by rebelling they can protect nearby relatives from the same fate.