Why Ants Work Together
WouterAmong the most highly organized organisms in nature, ants have an innate sense of community. As a team, ants work together to attack and defend their colony. They work as a team to gather, transport, and break up food. They are also good at tackling threats.
Using sound and touch, ants communicate with each other. They also use pheromones to tell each other what to do. Each ant has a specific task, and the group divides up the work based on many factors.
The queen ant spends most of her time laying eggs and harvesting sperm cells for the rest of the colony. She also produces hundreds of thousands of eggs per day. These sterile female offspring make up the brood, which are the next generation of workers.
The colony’s matriarch also works with the queen. In addition to laying eggs, she is also responsible for the survival of the colony. She also harvests sperm cells for the queen. The queen ants also play a role in “nuptial flight,” where she engages in a series of “nest-sharing” events with several males.
Researchers have also discovered that ants work together to create bridges, rafts, and tunnels. They are also known to assemble into complex formations to move heavy objects.
One group of scientists has devised a system to communicate with ants. They have placed plastic mazes in locations near ant nests. They are using this technology to study the ants’ collective cognition. This could help researchers understand how systems operate without central control.
