Ants seem like simple creatures because of how tiny they are, but they are a lot smarter and tougher than you think.
These insects are capable of constructing complex underground cities, carrying objects 50 times their weight, and much more.
They have also shown a remarkable ability to learn from experience, according to a team of evolutionary biologists.
The team conducted an experiment in which they confronted ants with competitors from another nest. The results showed that test ants remembered the experiences they had with the rival ants during these encounters.
They displayed more aggressive behavior toward ants from a nest they previously had a negative experience with than ants from nests unknown to them. When they encountered passive members of a nest, they were much less aggressive toward them.
Ants use odors to tell the difference between members of their own nests and those from other nests. Each nest has a certain scent. In the past, studies have demonstrated that ants are especially aggressive toward their nearest neighbors.
They are likely to open their mandibles and bite or spray acid to kill their competitors. They are not as likely to do this to nests that are farther away from them. Until now, it was unclear why.
The study revealed that ants can remember the smell of their more aggressive rivals, which is why they act so combative when confronted with competitors they are familiar with.
The experiment was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the ants underwent various experiences. One group came into contact with ants from their own nest, the second group faced aggressive ants from rival nest A, and the third group met aggressive ants from rival nest B.
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A total of five encounters occurred, with each one lasting only a minute. In the second phase of the experiment, the researchers examined how the ants from different groups behaved when faced with competitors from nest A.
The ants that had already encountered nest A were a lot more aggressive toward them than those from the other two groups.
The scientists then repeated the experiment in a slightly modified form to explore how the nature of the encounters influenced the ants’ behavior.
They included interactions with passive ants, ensuring that an ant behaved passively by cutting off its antennae, which removes its ability to fight. Ants that had only come across passive rivals behaved significantly less aggressively in later encounters.
“We often have the idea that insects function like pre-programmed robots,” said Dr. Volker Nehring, the lead author of the study and a research associate in the Evolutionary Biology and Animal Ecology group at the University of Freiburg.
“Our study provides new evidence that, on the contrary, ants also learn from their experiences and can hold a grudge.”
Moving forward, the team will look into how much ants adapt their olfactory receptors to their experiences. The details of the study were published in Current Biology.
