I’m not as knowledgeable about ant genetics as the other fellow. But I do know ants recognize each other from the same colony through chemical signals.
There are insects that can hijack that, I think rival ants can even trick the ants of another colony to kill their own queen. There are also rival queens that can kill another queen and the rest of colony thinks that’s their queen. Essentially stealing and entire colony of ants they did not birth.
So they are heavy into identification through chemical means over anything else. Genetics has not a lot to do with identification.
I’m more of a spider guy. But the insect and arachnid worlds are fascinating to me.
The “language” you speak of is more often expressed via pheromones rather than sound xor gesture, where ants are concerned —similar to the majority of the insect kingdom, and beyond.
So every ant, clone or not, is probably set up to only function in a colony.
And I assume the genetics determine the language, so that even related ant nests don’t merge but stay distinct?
I’m not as knowledgeable about ant genetics as the other fellow. But I do know ants recognize each other from the same colony through chemical signals.
There are insects that can hijack that, I think rival ants can even trick the ants of another colony to kill their own queen. There are also rival queens that can kill another queen and the rest of colony thinks that’s their queen. Essentially stealing and entire colony of ants they did not birth.
So they are heavy into identification through chemical means over anything else. Genetics has not a lot to do with identification.
I’m more of a spider guy. But the insect and arachnid worlds are fascinating to me.
Ooh! I love arachnids! Did you happen to catch that research on their pneumatic mobility system that was used in miniature robot models? 😱😍… 😬
Recall seeing something on larger robots and limb movement using hydraulic compression but do share a link if you got it!
For sure! Here’s a couple from a quick search: 1., 2.
The “language” you speak of is more often expressed via pheromones rather than sound xor gesture, where ants are concerned —similar to the majority of the insect kingdom, and beyond.
Here’re some more ant facts!
amidst silliness