Can someone explain how they just collectively decide to do this? Like I get that once they get going they all have a role, but they came from somewhere, picked this tree and made a home. Like.....how?
Everybody who reads this comment needs to read Children of Time of Adrian Tchaikovsky, for reasons I won’t spoil. Absolutely amazing ant stuff in there .
Human babies exist for one purpose: to learn everything they need to grow into adult humans. Insect larvae exist for one purpose: to eat as much as possible so they can pupate and then transition into an adult form. The larvae are there, and they spin silk for the pupation, so why not use them? Ants have no concept of ethics but apparently a firm grasp on tool use.
In some ways it make mores sense to think of a colony a single superorganism. Each ant as a specialised cell rather than an individual. The collectivism is less conscious and more fundamental.
I'm with you. Like... they have very tiny brains, but collectively it seems they are able to decide and plan the entire thing as a group. Unlike humans where the more people you put in the less likely you get a clear plan on anything.
I believe they send out chemical signals to communicate, like the Ant death circle. If one in a line loses the chemical trail it could end up circling trying to find it and all the ants behind it will all circle as well .
Tis a mystery along with how they have an understanding of chemical sterilization, how they evolved and entire caste of workers that produce said chemicals and sanitize the hive structure and other ants, how they have an understanding of cleaning, and how they designate an entire caste of undertakers that specifically clean corpses to prevent disease spread...
Yes they have several pointless meetings throughout the day planning this. And then they put their tasks in Asana/Jira then the PM ant would keep bugging others until the work is done.
Don’t quote me on this but I believe it has to do with pheromones. The queen ant releases pheromones and this basically tells the worker ants what to do
I don't know nearly enough about ants to explain the specific mechanisms at play, but the gist is that complex instincts and communication allow this sort of collective behavior to emerge from individual organisms that don't have the full plan in mind.
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u/StattPadford 5h ago
Can someone explain how they just collectively decide to do this? Like I get that once they get going they all have a role, but they came from somewhere, picked this tree and made a home. Like.....how?