The Most Amazing Ant in the World: An Ant That Explodes When Threatened
When it comes to army ants, it can be considered a typical representative of self-sacrifice among ants.
Many people are curious about what kind of ant it is and why it has such a name. In fact, explosive ants have a very outspoken personality and a 'tough life'.
Its scientific name is *Formica semigutta*. It is distributed in tropical rainforests of Southeast Asian countries.
Among ant populations, explosive ants and yellow crazy ants are bitter enemies. They not only compete for survival space but also attack each other. Yellow crazy ants will sabotage explosive ant colonies, so explosive ants will retaliate, but their own strength is not enough, so they choose to sacrifice themselves.
Its abdomen muscles contract violently, shattering the exoskeleton and spraying viscous, corrosive and chemically irritating substances in all directions to harm the enemy, hence it is also called explosive ant.
Moreover, the chemical substances produced after the explosive ant's self-destruction will volatilize into the air, which can be immediately detected by nearby ants through their antennae, and they will proactively prepare for danger.
Furthermore, these soldier ants responsible for 'self-detonation' are usually lazy, they are a weapon cultivated by the ant colony.
Although self-sacrifice to protect the entire colony seems a bit extreme, from a macro perspective, it seems reasonable because it is an important reason for the survival of the ant colony.
Because of the explosive ant's self-destruction behavior, the explosive ant colony has always been thriving.
It's amazing that such a small ant can have such a tragic retaliatory method! Do you feel moved by these 'insect bombs'?
