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Florida Carpenter Ants: Ant Surgeons
- 19 Jul 2024
- 1 min read
Recent study has revealed that Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) perform life-saving surgeries on injured nestmates to improve their survival chances.
- These ants decide whether to amputate (remove body part by surgery) or just clean the wound based on the location of the injury.
- Amputations are done for injuries higher up the leg (femur), while cleaning is done for injuries lower down the leg (tibia).
- Ants have a bluish-greenish fluid called hemolymph, similar to blood in most invertebrates. Higher leg injuries slow hemolymph flow, aiding effective amputations.
- This behaviour of ants is considered the most sophisticated "medical system" in the animal kingdom, rivalled only by human medical practices.
Florida Carpenter Ants:
- They have 6 legs, and reddish-brown species over 1.5 cm long, found in the southeastern US.
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They nest in rotting wood and defend their nests against rival ant colonies.
Read more: The Secret Lives of Insects, Orangutan Treats Wound With Medicinal Plant
