1. Florida ants perform life-saving operations on other ants.
- Author
-
KWAN, JACKLIN
- Subjects
CARPENTER ants ,FEMUR injuries ,LEG injuries ,ANT colonies ,BLOOD circulation - Abstract
Florida carpenter ants have been found to perform life-saving amputations on their injured nestmates, making them only the second animal species known to do so, alongside humans. Researchers discovered that the ants identify limb wounds on their peers and treat them with either cleaning or amputation. The surgeries have significantly improved the survival rates of the injured ants, with femur injuries seeing a survival rate increase from less than 40% to between 90 and 95% when amputations were performed. The researchers speculate that the ants only amputate femur injuries due to speed limitations, as the process takes at least 40 minutes to complete. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2024