Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

What happens to dead ants?

Oh, Matthew Alice:

Sponsored
Sponsored

My gears turn in wonder when I see ants and one of them has a dead fellow ant in its jaws. Why do they carry away these dead ants? Where do they take them? What does it all mean?

-- Sitting and Pondering (in Alaska, maybe, judging from the postcard)

Death and bereavement in the ant world are more chemical than cosmic. I'll give you the facts. You sort out the philosophy. Two things to keep in mind -- (1) about 90 percent of all communication in antdom involves chemical signals, and (2) ants are very tidy. An ant that's wounded in the line of duty exudes alarm chemicals that incite the other ants to rally to its aid. If they arrive on the scene and brother ant isn't moving, they don't have to nudge him with their toes or feel for a pulse. They know he's dead because he smells dead. That's a whole different set of chemicals that starts accumulating as soon as the ant bites it. Death pheromones stimulate the other ants to pick up the body and lug it back to the nest. Actually, it goes to the trash heap near the nest. Each colony has its own landfill area full of debris from their tunnels and the corpses of former members. Why are ants so tidy? Science is working on an answer, I'm sure.

Science guys tested ants' response to death chemicals by putting some on pieces of paper. Dutifully, the ants carried the paper away to their garbage dump. Weirdest of all, when they put the smell on a healthy ant, it played dead, his friends carried him off, and once they left, he licked all the smell off him and went on about his anty business as if nothing had happened.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

Oh, Matthew Alice:

Sponsored
Sponsored

My gears turn in wonder when I see ants and one of them has a dead fellow ant in its jaws. Why do they carry away these dead ants? Where do they take them? What does it all mean?

-- Sitting and Pondering (in Alaska, maybe, judging from the postcard)

Death and bereavement in the ant world are more chemical than cosmic. I'll give you the facts. You sort out the philosophy. Two things to keep in mind -- (1) about 90 percent of all communication in antdom involves chemical signals, and (2) ants are very tidy. An ant that's wounded in the line of duty exudes alarm chemicals that incite the other ants to rally to its aid. If they arrive on the scene and brother ant isn't moving, they don't have to nudge him with their toes or feel for a pulse. They know he's dead because he smells dead. That's a whole different set of chemicals that starts accumulating as soon as the ant bites it. Death pheromones stimulate the other ants to pick up the body and lug it back to the nest. Actually, it goes to the trash heap near the nest. Each colony has its own landfill area full of debris from their tunnels and the corpses of former members. Why are ants so tidy? Science is working on an answer, I'm sure.

Science guys tested ants' response to death chemicals by putting some on pieces of paper. Dutifully, the ants carried the paper away to their garbage dump. Weirdest of all, when they put the smell on a healthy ant, it played dead, his friends carried him off, and once they left, he licked all the smell off him and went on about his anty business as if nothing had happened.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.