In the deep, dense forests of Borneo is a very interesting species of ant that has a strange way of fending off threats and intruders – they explode.
Millions and millions of ants are found nearly everywhere on Earth, but none are as strange the Colobopsis explodens – otherwise known as ”exploding ants.’ This bizarre ant species belongs to a family of suicidal ants called Colobopsis cylindrica – a new species of this family hasn’t been discovered since 1935.
“Amongst the countless fascinating plants and animals inhabiting the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, there are the spectacular ‘exploding ants,’ a group of arboreal, canopy-dwelling ants nicknamed for their unique defensive behavior,” explained lead researcher Alice Laciny, who is completing a Ph.D. at the University of Vienna, told CBC News.
Ants, like bees, have very complex colonies with certain ranks within, such as workers and queens. Typically, the worker ants are the ones that are assigned to protecting and defending the colony – as is the case with the female worker ants in the colobopsis explodens species.
The female worker ant, when threatened, goes into a method of self-sacrifice called “autothysis.”
If a threat approaches, the ant will lift up its rear to warn them. If the threat continues or approaches, the ant will then chomp on itself, flexing hard, causing its abdomen to explode – what comes out is a sticky, yellow, toxic goo.
“When threatened by other insects, minor workers can actively rupture their body wall,” Laciny explains. “Apart from leading to the ants’ imminent death, the ‘explosion’ releases a sticky, toxic liquid from their enlarged glands, in order to either kill or hold off the enemy.”
“They explode when attacked by an enemy (or poked with a finger),” she continued “The composition of the goo is currently under investigation, but it certainly contains sticky and toxic components.”
This isn’t the only bizarre defense tactic that these ants possess. While the ‘minor’ workers participate in self-sacrifice, the ‘major’ workers have another strange method of protection.
Major workers have an abnormally enlarged head that resembles a scary, gaping mouth. It’s been said that it resembles the open mouth of a whale shark swimming through the ocean. These worker ants are also known as the ‘doorkeepers.’
“For example, major workers — also called ‘doorkeepers’ — have big, plug-shaped heads used to physically barricade the nest entrances against intruders,” Laciny elaborates.
“The evolution of the explosion behavior and the diverse body types of the castes are amazing,” Laciny said with awe.
Another interesting fact about this new species of ant is the fact that they do not live underground. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
The Colobopsis explodens ant species prefer to live high up in the canopies of the rainforest instead of underground. This has made researching them particularly difficult and challenging.
“Fascinated by the bizarre insects, the team are studying a number exploding ant species as part of the Exploding Ants project,” says Newsweek.
In addition to more research being done on this new exploding ant species, they aren’t the only ones that use self-sacrifice as a defense mechanism. National Geographic says that there is a species of ant in Brazil that closes it’s nest with sand each night for protection. However, eight or so of them will stay outside to seal it up – often dead in the morning.
Want to learn more about this bizarre creature? Head over to Exploding Ants for more info.
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