What Percentage of the Population Can Smell Ants?
WouterDespite the fact that they are one of the smallest animals on earth, ants have a very complex olfactory system that can detect cancerous compounds. They communicate with each other through pheromones, chemical signals that help them detect danger. In fact, one species of ants is even known to smell like blue cheese.
The olfactory system is found inside the antennae of ants. They have four to five times more odor receptors than other insects, such as mosquitoes.
The olfactory system has about 400 different odorant receptors. These receptors are responsible for identifying aromatic compounds. Some of the odorants include oleic acid and formic acid. The ants can also smell a chemical called methyl ketones.
Researchers have found that the ants are able to detect different types of breast cancer. They taught half the sniffer ants to recognize one type of breast cancer, while the other half of the ants were trained to recognize another type.
These results are very exciting. They may one day lead to the development of new antibiotics for humans. In the meantime, scientists are attempting to identify the chemical compounds that make up the ant’s scent.
The ant’s scent is based on pheromones, chemical signals sent from an ant to another ant or to a food source. In addition to their role in identifying members of a colony, pheromones can also be used to send alarm signals. Some pheromones are meant to protect the ant, while others are meant to alert other ants to danger.
