How Can Ants Join Another Colony?
WouterUsing ants as a study animal has allowed scientists to gain a better understanding of ants and their interactions. They provide an important example of how social insects are able to evade host colony recognition systems. These insects do not have complex emotions, but they do have a sense of smell, which allows them to recognise the scent of their colony.
Ants can be divided into two classes, workers and reproductives. Workers are the ants who live for a year or so. They are responsible for feeding and caring for the young. They also dispose of waste and carry out conflict resolution in the colony. During a first generation, the queen feeds the larvae, which lack legs. They are protected by other workers.
Reproductives, on the other hand, are the ants who lay eggs. The ants’ diet is rich in protein. The larvae, however, do not live very long. They spend the rest of their lives laying eggs. They are less likely to inbreed with relatives.
During emigration, army ants form backtracking columns along emigration routes. These columns return to the queenright sister colony after the colony has been fissioned. This backtracking can help explain the positive relatedness between fusing colonies.
Workers also become chemically similar. This is partly genetic and partly due to nests. The CHC, or cuticular hydrocarbon, is a grease-like substance covering each ant. In a laboratory study, Argentine ants have been found to become chemically similar.
