Can Ants Use Tools to Carry Liquid Food to Their Nests?
WouterDuring foraging, ants use tools to carry liquid food from a food source to their nests. Workers are not specialized in this task, but they will carry solid food items in their nests without using tools.
To explore the nature of tool use, researchers conducted two experiments. One aimed to see how tool use was related to other behaviors. The other tested whether ants were specialized in using certain tools.
In Experiment 1, ants were provided with six types of tools. Each type was mixed with a honey water bait. Each trial was video recorded for a four hour period. The number of trials did not vary according to colony size or ant personality. There were a total of five colonies for each species. Each colony was connected to a foraging area through tunnels. Each colony had five workers. The total number of foragers increased with colony size.
In Experiment 2, workers were exposed to an environment with different foraging habits. Some workers were “bolder” and spend more time in the periphery of the nest. Others spent more time in the center of the arena, where they were able to explore more.
These workers were more likely to use tools during the first trial. However, they did not demonstrate the most sophisticated tool use in the second trial. In addition, they did not carry tools to their nests in four hours.
In Experiment 2, workers were provided with an artificial bait. This included a life jacket and sponges. Unlike the original experiment, the life jacket was not used by all ants. However, the sponge was used by a majority of workers.
