One Planet News: Can ants hold a grudge?
A new research study reveals interesting ant behaviour
by Annette J Beveridge
A new study suggests there is much more to ants than we have previously thought and they may even hold a grudge.
A recent study was led by a team of evolutionary biologists from the University of Freiburg, and includes a research associate in the Evolutionary Biology and Animal Ecology group, Dr Volker Nehring, and doctoral student Mélanie Bey.
Tests were undertaken to discover whether ants could learn from experience.
Researchers repeatedly confronted ants with competitors from other nests (both near and far) and in the test, ants were deemed to have remembered the negative experiences associated with these encounters. As a result, these ants behaved even more aggressively.
The ones that encountered more passive ants from nests further away were less aggressive as a result. The findings concluded that ants learn from experience.
Odours
Ants use odours to identify other ants and aggression increased when the ants were faced with those from a neighbouring nest. Aggressive behaviour included opening the mandibles, biting, spraying acid or killing what they perceived to be a competitor.
Scientists were puzzled by ants’ change of aggression towards passiveness until the team realised that ants remember the scent of the attackers.
Results
The science study involved many tests but concluded with definitive findings.
Nehring said: "We often have the idea that insects function like pre-programmed robots. Our study provides new evidence that, on the contrary, ants also learn from their experiences and can hold a grudge."
Ongoing research will see the team investigate whether and to what extent ants adapt their olfactory receptors to the experiences thereby reflecting what they have learned.
