A miniature drama plays out on the forest floor in the Sierra Nevada at this time of year. In the afternoons, you might see a stream of red ants frantically on the move. They're looking for the pupae of other ants to steal. (KQEDScience)
A miniature drama is playing out on the forest floor in California’s preeminent mountain range, the Sierra Nevada, at this time of year. As the sun sets, look closely and you might see a stream of red ants frantically climbing over leaves and rocks.“It’s hard to know who you're rooting for in this situation,” says Kelsey Scheckel, a graduate student at UC Berkeley who studies kidnapper ants. “You're just excited to be a bystander.
The nest can be underground or in decaying wood. The researchers wait, using binoculars to look from a distance for the first signs of a raid. The black ants try to defend their nest, but they’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of the raiders. Some of the black ants put up a fight, and some try to flee, but many seem to simply panic in the face of the onslaught.
Ants also create their own odors. Each nest has its own specific smell, which is a combination of chemicals made by the ants themselves mixed with those from their food and surroundings. So when the raid hits, the young ant has no way to know it’s been kidnapped. It can’t tell that it’s being held captive and not in its home nest with its sisters.
When they arrive in their new home, the newly enslaved ants get to work maintaining the nest, caring for the young and even leaving the nest to forage for food. The two ants will meet mouth to mouth in a kissing pose. The captive ant regurgitates food directly into the kidnapper’s mouth. It’s a process called trophallaxis.
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