This ants they are fascinating beings as they get to know each other, they arouse admiration. Their incredible traditions and social organization show countless similarities to humans. But one of the lesser-known characteristics of ants is, They are able to call for help when injured while fighting opposing species, and are also rescued, evacuated, and healed by their friends..
According to a study on an African ant species (Megaponera analyst), these creatures can ‘summon’ help from their friends when injured and initiate a complex evacuation and healing protocol. saves most of the injured ants from death. The research was conducted by scientists from the University of Würzburg and is published in the journalism. Science Advances.
“For the first time in invertebrates, we have observed how individuals help the injured,” said Erik Frank, chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the aforementioned university.
ants Megaponera analystthose living in the south of the Sahara, They prey on termites that form long tails with groups of 200 to 500 specimens. Half of them enter the tunnels of their victims and try to quickly kill a large number of termites.
But it’s not an easy thing because ITermites know how to defend themselves well, and 1 to 2 percent of ants are injured in these attacks. That’s because the attackers came face-to-face with the enemy who bit off their legs, scientists observed in a forest in Ivory Coast.
They ask for help and are saved.
The surprising thing about the case is that after the battle, the ants gathered their seriously injured mates. are They send out a distress signal so they can be found. Said SOS consists of parsing a specific chemical signal emitted from the mandibular glands.Explain Frank et al.
“The Companion smells this, then examines the injured ants and they catch them with their mouths. Wounds even retract their legs to make carrying easierFrank explains.
It is a highly effective system that has saved the lives of many among the ‘guerrillas’ wounded on the battlefield: “One-third of the injured cannot return without assistance”says the biologist.
The injured, after being rescued, receive treatment in the anthill and recover by learning to walk on four or five legs. But is this When they manage to regain mobility, they fight again.. In fact, “38 of the 40 injured ants we marked were seen in a new influx shortly after,” explains the researcher.
A typical colony of such ants consists of about a thousand specimens ranging in size from six millimeters to two centimeters. If they make three to five raids a day and leave wounds behind, the colony will shrink by 28 percent., according to models used by researchers. Therefore, the recovery system is worth it.
According to Frank, such behavior was not expected among social insects, where individuals were outnumbered compared to the group.
And although there are two other species of ants in which similar behavior is observed, it only comes into play when the life of the injured person is in serious danger, for example, when a tunnel collapses. “But our ants’ lives are not in danger. They just lost a leg,” he says. Despite this, his friends are not afraid to come to his rescue.
Biologist Jürgen Heinze of the University of Regensburg finds the observed behavior very interesting. “It’s not normal for them to take care of themselves and participate in raids again. I don’t know anything like that”stated.
According to Heinze, there are about 16,000 species of ants worldwide, the insect not only able to carry up to ten times its weight, but also for its impressive cognitive abilities.
Reference work: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.2457
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Contact address of the environment department: crizclimatica@prensaiberica.es
Source: Informacion
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