Studies on ants have been multiplying for some time, also because what is fascinating is being, all together, what is called a “superorganism” (in this regard I point out the most exhaustive book on the subject, The superorganism by Bert Höllbler and Edward O.Wilson, published by Adelphi, to lose you in myrmecology). However, there is a certain resistance to considering them capable of emotions comparable to human ones, despite many evidences. Their actions and being one with the anthill fascinates us on the one hand, but on the other disturbs us, because we see them without individuality. In short, every ant is its own anthill (like a bee its hive), one is as good as the other, what does it have to tell us? It’s not Z the ant.
A new study by scientist Volker Nehring of the University of Freiburg seems to have demonstrated how ants are capable of behaving as if they felt rancorthey are even vindictive. In the study we wanted to delve deeper into what is called “effect of the bad neighbor”, i.e. aggression towards nearby colonies (we often have it too, with our neighbours, just take a look at the crime news every now and then). Which is very common in ants.
However, following a series of controlled experiments, it was seen that ants that had suffered many more attacks from ants from rival colonies had a much higher level of aggression. In other words they had memory of the wrong they had suffered. The result of the study is that the ants “are able to associatively learn the olfactory labels of non-nestmate colonies and associate them with negative experiences such as having been attacked previously”.
In general, the prejudice about insects and their mini-brains dies hard, although a lot of research is being dedicated to it. Understanding a mini-brain means understanding our own too. Dr. Voler Nehring himself states that we often “have the idea that insects are like pre-programmed robots”, which is increasingly false. Giorgio Vallortigara, neuroethologist who has always dedicated himself to the study of minibrains (another reading recommendation, Thoughts of the fly with the crooked headalso published by Adelphi), in one of his conferences he cites an example concerning a study on empathy. Two mice are locked in a cage, one of the two is imprisoned in a smaller cage with a simple mechanism to free the other who complains, and in the end (after quite a while), he frees him. Empathy?
Vallortigara observes that yes and no: what if it was simply because the “empathetic” mouse couldn’t stand hearing the other one scream anymore? At the same time Vallortigara shows another study, on which the scientific community is more skeptical in attributing a discovery of empathy, yet it is much more clear: an ant has a small leg specially tied with a thread to a small stone, and the companion ants Together, they work to cut the thread until they free her. If for mice you have no problem talking about empathy, in the case of ants it seems a bit much. Nevertheless.
Now, in addition to being empathetic, we know that they are vindictive (be careful when you crush one, you never know). Which, if you think about it, confirms the title of a 1992 bestseller by Gino and Michele: Even the ants get pissed off in their own small way. Believe it or not.