The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Florida carpenter ants perform life- saving amputations: study
FLORIDA CARPENTER ants bite off the injured limbs of their nest mates to prevent infection, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology last week. Although other ant species are known to tend to the wounds of their injured, typically by licking them clean, this is the first time that an ant species has been known to use amputation to treat an injury.
The ants in the study performed amputations on only certain leg injuries, suggesting that they are methodical in their surgical practices. Aside from humans, no other animal is known to conduct such amputations. The prevalence of the behavior among Florida carpenter ants raises questions about their intelligence and their ability to feel pain.
The researchers also said that the amputations appeared to be consensual.
“The ant presents its injured leg and calmly sits there while another ant gnaws it off,” Erik Frank, one of the authors of the study, said.
After observing dozens of amputations, the researchers noticed that the ants would perform the procedure only on nest mates with thigh injuries, and not when the wound was further away from the body.
To understand this, researchers performed microCT scans on the amputees.
Ants have several muscles throughout their bodies that keep hemolymph, their version of blood, flowing. Florida carpenter ants have many such muscles in the thighs. When they sustain a thigh injury, the flow of hemolymph is reduced, making it more difficult for bacteria to move from the wound into the body. In such cases, if the entire leg is amputated quickly, the chance of infection is very low.
But when a Florida carpenter ant injures its lower legs, bacteria can penetrate its body very quickly. As a result, the time window for a successful amputation is narrow and the chance of it being successful is slim.