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Article by: Josephine Ong Seen Yee
In a surprising discovery, biologist Erik Frank and his team from the University of Würzburg found that Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) perform a form of surgical amputation to help injured nestmates. This behaviour is notable because it appears unique among insects and parallels some human medical practices.
Unlike other ant species that typically use antimicrobial substances to treat wounds, Florida carpenter ants engage in surgical amputations. When an ant's leg is injured, fellow ants will bite off the damaged limb to prevent the spread of bacterial infections.
Frank’s team conducted experiments where they inflicted leg injuries on carpenter ants and exposed the wounds to the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ants were then either left alone or returned to their nests. Ants that were returned to the nest had their injured legs amputated by nest mates. 90% of these ants survived. In contrast, only 40% of ants left alone survived.
The team also injured ants' legs at different points: at the femur and the tibia. When injuries were at the femur, amputations by nest mates were common and effective, leading to high survival rates. However, when injuries were at the tibia, amputations were not performed, and survival rates were lower. The ants instead licked the wounds to remove bacteria.
High-resolution microscopy showed that the femur has muscles that impede hemolymph flow (the insect equivalent of blood), which could delay bacterial infection and make femur amputations more viable. The tibia, having less muscle, allows quicker bacterial spread, which makes immediate treatment necessary.
DNA analysis of the ants revealed that amputations of femur wounds effectively halted bacterial infections. However, amputations of tibia wounds did not improve survival, suggesting that ants can discern the type of injury and apply the most effective treatment accordingly. This behaviour showcases the ants' advanced social and survival strategies. It illustrates a level of sophistication in their care for injured nestmates that is rare in the animal kingdom and mirrors human medical practices like surgery.
This discovery challenges the simplistic view of ants as mere labourers or soldiers and highlights their intricate social structures and adaptive behaviours– had we been underestimating these tiny minds all along?
References:
Vilcarino, J. (2024, July 3). These ants can perform leg amputations and know when it’s needed, study says. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/ants-perform-leg-amputations-needed-study/story?id=111638736
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