Let's say there's an anthole; 6000 ants live there. There's a picnic, and 1500 ants are sent out to gather as much as they can. This guy sees all these ants, and sprays this can of bug-spray, and kils all 1500 of them.
It's a huge loss for the anthole. In this case:
Can the ants count?
Do they notice they've lost a quarter of their colony?
Do they grieve?
I know elephants grieve the death of their fellow elephants. What about ants?
2007-09-03 21:35:39 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
I don't think they grieve. Ever killed just a few in a trail of ants while the rest of the trail continues on it's way? They might run into the dead ants and go around them, but I've never seen them take them back to the nest for a proper burial or spend any time making over the little ant corpses.
With 1500 being gone, they might notice the lack of help carrying in the provisions for winter. On the other hand, they might just figure that's 1500 mouths that won't have to be fed.
Really don't think ants are up as high on the intelligence list as elephants.
2007-09-03 21:46:43 · answer #1 · answered by DixeVil 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that ants got some sort of "emotions' beyond our understanding as humans. Ants have their own expression of being ants.
Can they count? Interesting facts about ants say an ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells ( a human brain has 10,000 million). It has been estimated that an ant's brain may have the same processing power as a Macintosh computer. Being an insect with the large brain, I believe that ants are intelligent enough to recognize when members of their colonies are missing. They form a certain soldiery and always makes up for whatever is lost among the members. Indeed, they have their own specific way of calculation. It will not be the same as the way we count but they do have their own way of counting.
Have you seen an ant carrying a "colleague's dead body"? After a "massive human attack" by using some insect spray for instance, those survivors gets back to the place after a while and will be very busy going to and fro- carrying dead bodies and keep themselves busy for a while.
Could those survivors had grieved for a while with their dead "significant colleagues"? Probably yes,in their own special way. Through their effective tactile and chemical communication definitely, they will notice the loss of a quarter of their colony.
Just based on my own speculation though........
2007-09-03 22:38:15 · answer #2 · answered by ♥ lani s 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tough to answer. To splatter the ant, you need to generate enough force. The force of impact is related to the mass and velocity of the object. The amount of force required to splatter an ant obviously isn't all that much. However, the MASS of the ant is so small that you would have to go a loooooong way up to generate enough velocity to create that force. If you're looking for an exact number, I don't know. I don't know how many Newtons of force it takes to splatter an ant and I'm not about to test it.
2016-05-21 00:15:26 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i heard that when the queen ant sends the ants out in the morning she "counts" how many there is and if less come back at night she will make more ants and send them out. So even if u squash 1 ant the queen will know. BEWARE THE QUEEN ANT IS WATCHING U!! lol sorry gettin a bit over excited about an ant lol
2007-09-04 09:33:25 · answer #4 · answered by xXx~mimi~xXx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, they're cannibals and will eat their own kind. i've witnessed an ant massacre and ant corpses were everywhere. then i saw a few ants carrying something with their antennas and it was a dead ant! the next day, all the ant corpses were gone?! one ant notified the colony of the massacre and more worker ants came to take care of the ant corpses. most likely they weren't buried in an ant graveyard, but was preparing an ant feast/picnic of their own!! ants have strong survival instincts so if there is food lying around they will not let that chance pass them by:O
2007-09-03 22:42:20 · answer #5 · answered by polly-pocket 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always pictured ants like us. That is why I feel bad killing them sometimes. Like maybe a little daddy ant went out to go get food or something and he doesn't come home and the mommy ant and the babies are like "what happened to daddy?" Then maybe one of the other ants finds his squished body that I killed and they take him back and bury him I guess.
Maybe I get too imaginative with it, but I think they know when one has been killed and I think the ants are probably individuals like us.
2007-09-03 21:40:20 · answer #6 · answered by jbahhh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ants have a hive mentality. They would notice the loss, and try to do something to fix it.
I think grief is too complex of an emotion for any insect to feel though.
2007-09-03 21:41:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Corn meal works better and is not toxic to humans and their pets (unless they have pet ants).
From what I've seen, ants just march on the dead bodies of other ants and keep doing whatever it is they're doing.
2007-09-03 21:40:25 · answer #8 · answered by scruffycat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I grieve for them.
2007-09-03 21:39:43 · answer #9 · answered by Faesson 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They know when the queen dies.
2007-09-03 21:38:56 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋