Helping others is not newly discovered ant behaviour. Termite soldiers use their strong heads and enormous mandibles to devastating effect. Although these two-centimetre-long ants are one of the largest in the world and are named after the fierce Matabele tribe of southern Africa, the insects suffer high casualties during a raid. Twice, sometimes four times, a day, Matabele ants march in formation across the forests, woodlands, and savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa, on the lookout for termite nests. They marked the injured ones with acrylic colours to follow their movements and fate. They observed 52 colonies of Matabele ants conduct 420 raids in the Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast, for 13 months over three years. Researchers from the University of Würzburg, Germany, investigated why ants rescue their mates and how they sense others’ predicament. Scientists discovered that this tendency to help their compatriots is not triggered by empathy but by c hemical molecules called pheromones. The invaders are Matabele ants ( Megaponera analis ) and their targets, termites. They are far from abandoned as their healthy comrades, the majors, hoist them away from the battlefield. As the invaders head back to their encampment with their dead booty, many of their ranks lie wounded at the site. Some cling to the raiders’ legs in a desperate attempt to stall the attack. Soldiers of the besieged fight back, ripping the legs off the invading minors. Once they reach the site, the majors rip up the concrete-hard mud fortifications and minors pour into the vulnerable colony, seizing and killing the inmates. Read about them in this series by Janaki Lenin.Īs soon as the scout returns after identifying the target, 200 to 500 warriors march out in an orderly column. Credit: Erik FrankĪnimals do the most amazing things. An injured ant is ambushed by a jumping spider while returning from the hunting ground alone.

Frank the ant 2