The Press Stories
It takes a lot of teamwork to escape the flood and thousands of firefighters have to work together to build boats until the water recedes. The timeless video now shows how this brilliant insect on these rafts makes direct conveyor belts to help riders reach dry land.
These scenes show how Ant Raft with a small area changed its shape Ants The ant moves like a boat for a few hours from the main part of the tent. These bridges are formed from the combined action of two groups of ants: so-called structural ants – an insect that floats the colony – rotating from the bottom to the top of the pile, and the surface ants move freely upwards. Then they moved on. To support positions under their friends and relatives.
Related: Image Gallery: Ants of the World
There are more than 20 ants worldwide, but especially in one species, the red imported ant (Solenopsis invicta), Which has large colonies of more than 300,000 workers, According to North Carolina State University.
When their underground tunnels are submerged in fire, fire ants form floating rafts together, which, if necessary, can move the colony together until the water recedes. The outer skeleton of a fire ant naturally chases away water and its hard structure traps air bubbles. Thus, the tightly bound bodies of ants can create a vibrant, waterproof base for the floating boat, The science of living Previously announced.
As a result of the record in 2017, there were plenty of areas for ants in South Texas Hurricane Harvey. Those who escaped the storm’s floodwaters were advised to stay away from the boat as the ants’ venomous bite was so painful. Live Science said that year.
Although previous research showed that the ant boat had a fixed structure, its shape was constantly changing and the tents were looking in different directions – but scientists did not know exactly how it happened.
“As far as we know, these protrusions are not documented or explained in the existing literature,” the researchers wrote in a new study published on June 30. Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
They collected about 3,000 to 10,000 ants at a time and placed the insects in a container in the middle of the water with a stick, around which the ants collected and produced rafts. Scientists then photographed the ants, which captured images of timelessness and real-time images of the boat’s formation and transformation. Image tracking and computer modeling data revealed which parts of the ant were fixed, which parts were moving – and where all the ants in the various layers of the boat were going.
The authors of the study found that the boat’s study tents were formed by the movement of ants, which the authors of this study called “treadmilling”. When the structural ants hit the surface of the boat, the free-moving ants were buried at lower structural levels. Together, this circle moved and widened, creating narrow bridges of ants on the outside where the colony could spread safely.
Other factors, such as weather, daylight hours, and colony habitat, may influence the behavior of ants and may also play a role in the aerodynamics of ants’ fences. The researchers concluded that these variables were not found in experiments, but could be explored in future studies.
First published on the LiveScience website.
