A new study revealed that Carpenter Ants give one another slobbery “kisses” to share spit, creating a colony-wide metabolic system.
According to researchers from Fribourg, the “kiss” is when ants share food and other important nutrients.
The exchange allows each ant to have what it requires for its job in the colony.
This team hopes that their findings can shed light on how humans and other species distribute metabolic tasks within different tissue or cells.
New research has shown that Carpenter ants exchange kisses to create a colonywide metabolism.
Researchers set out to discover why ants can share fluids through ‘kisses.
‘Individual ants have two stomachs – one for digesting their own food and another one that comes first, a ‘social stomach’ for storing fluids that they share with other ants in their colony,’ explained Adria LeBoeuf, senior author of the study.
“These fluid trades enable ants share food and other essential proteins they themselves make.”
Researchers analyzed the protein production by ants in individual ants’ social stomachs, and then compared how they varied depending upon the role of the colony.
Also, they determined whether there were differences in the protein levels depending on whether or not the ants came from a new colony.
Sanja Hakala, the lead author, explained that ants often share fluids to help them understand their behavior.
They found different proteins depending upon the role of an ant in the colony and on its age.
After analysing the production of proteins by ants from the social stomachs and comparing the results with other ants within the colony, the researchers analyzed how these proteins changed depending on which ant was involved.
For instance, mature colonies of ants had higher levels of proteins that are linked to the growth and metamorphosis in their young.
Nurse ants who care for young children had higher levels of anti-aging proteins.
This suggests that the colony members might pool their lives-extending proteins with the nurses in order to care for the next generation.
Ms Hakala explained that the findings prove that colony members are capable of performing metabolic labor to benefit other colonies.
Although the research team acknowledges that there is still much to be done to fully understand each protein’s role, the scientists hope their findings will shed some light on how other animals, such as humans, share metabolic tasks among different tissues and cells.
Ms LeBoeuf stated that “It’s hard to quantify how metabolic work between cells is shared.”
“Here are the Ants passing things around so we can see what they’re sharing.
“Understanding how ants work together to produce metabolic energy may allow us to learn more about how other animals, such as humans, share this metabolic task.
WHAT MATHS DO ANTS USE TO BUILD “LIVING BRIDGES”?
To cross tiny gaps, several species of ant create ‘living bridges’ from their own bodies.
Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology showed in 2015 that up to 20 per cent of a colony may be locked into bridges on a route at any time.
When an individual ant runs a ‘bridging algorithm’, it is possible to control their behavior.
A rat can determine how many previous ants have stampeded it and this information is used to calculate the span of the bridge.
If this number is reached, an ant may join the march if they feel that there are too many colony members occupying bridges.
To cross tiny gaps, a variety of species of ant create ‘living bridges’ out of their bodies.