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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Heroic ants pay the ultimate price to safeguard nest Heroic ants pay the ultimate price to safeguard nest 11:15 29 September 2008 Ants in Brazil have provided the first example of insects sacrificing themselves to pre-empt a threat. At sunset, the ants seal up the entrance to their nest, but in doing so a few remain outside to kick sand over the entrance hole until it becomes invisible. These ants then die due to the cold, or get blown away in the wind. There are many examples in nature of insects sacrificing themselves when a colony or nest is under attack, such as when bees use their stings to defend the hive and die in the process. But the door-sealing activities of these 2-millimetre ants (Forelius pusillus) represent the first recorded case of insects sacrificing themselves through a premeditated and pre-emptive procedure. "The ants sacrifice their lives every evening even if the colony isn't under attack by predators," says Adam Tofilski of the Agricultural University in Krakow, Poland, and head of an international team investigating the phenomenon. Pre-meditated task They discovered the nightly door-closing ritual after observing nest entrances of ants at field sites near São Simão in São Paulo state, Brazil. The team noticed how apparent stragglers were trapped outside every night. More detailed observations showed that they weren't late-returning foragers, however. Instead, they were engaged in just one task – to seal the entrance. "The nest entrance is sealed at sunset," says Tofilski. "One to eight workers finish the job from the outside and, in doing so, sacrifice their lives." The nightly chore takes about 50 minutes. The technique the ants use to kick sand backwards over the hole with their hind legs is unique to the task, reinforcing the evidence that this is a pre-meditated activity. Once their task is complete, they usually quickly walk away. To trace the fate of these ants, the researchers placed sheets of thin plywood containing false openings over some real nest entrances. These were used to transfer ants engaged in the task of sealing the holes to containers with sand at the base. The ants carried on working until they had finished and were then left to await the dangers of the Brazilian night. Cost of security Of 23 ants transferred in this way, only six survived until morning. The bodies of 10 were recovered, and the other seven were missing, most likely blown away and presumed dead. The researchers say that given typical nest populations of 100,000, the sacrifice of up to eight workers a night is worth paying for the security of the nest. Tofilski says that the ants are probably older workers approaching death who are more dispensable than their younger nest mates, and so are programmed to perform riskier tasks as they age. "It's unlikely there's a 'kamikaze caste'," he says. "Because entrance closing is very risky, it should be performed by very old or very unhealthy workers." Tofilski hopes to demonstrate this by showing that ants trapped outside have reduced longevity compared with nest workers. "It's clear that ants are not 'chosen' for a task," he says. "There's no central control, but every worker 'knows' what to do and its inclination to perform different tasks changes with age." Journal reference: The American Naturalist (DOI: 10.1086/591688)
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#1. To: Tauzero (#0)
probably was an ant false flag op staged by the crown. i say spray the fuckers with Raid just to be sure.
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