New Zealand Science Teacher

The ant Rosetta Stone

11/05/2016

From Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, new research has been able to determine that ants really do use their ‘feelers’ – more properly called antennae – to feel, and that it’s a two-way street.

The new research, by Qike Wang et al of the University of Melbourne, has overturned the 125-year old belief that ants only use their antennae to receive chemical messages. These chemical messages are called pheromones - defined as substances produced by an animal that affect the behaviour or physiology of others of it’s species. It’s an ability that is particularly utilised by insects and mammals.

Previously, scientists were aware that ants use their antennae to detect cuticular hydrocarbons, emitted from other ants, to identify others from their colony or nest. What wasn’t clear until now was that the ants are also using their antennae to send these signals.

These messages are incredibly subtle and carry quite a lot of information: It’s not just, ‘Hi, I’m Dave’. These signals can tell the recipient, ‘Hi, I’m Dave, we’re colony-mates, and our nest is just over there. Also don’t disturb Queen as she’s really grumpy, having given birth to 300 children today’.