ST. PHILEMON'S CORNER

  Have you ever taken off your time to consider ants for a second? Or considered the wise saying of King Solomon in the Proverbs which says "go to the ants, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise?"

  There is so much to be learnt from these tiny creatures called ants. It is apparently known that the world can not exist without talking about them. Perhaps, because of their records of longest existing animals-which had occupied the earth for more than 100million years; their cosmopolitant nature of being found almost everywhere on the planet; being the most successful and abundant species; their strong sense of sociological functions and industry; and complex communication processes.

  For sure, ants do communicate, even though, we can not hear or decode the meaning of what they are saying. However, their sense of communication has proved greatly to be the most effective and successful of their factors of survivals. Humans of course have a lot to benefit from these communication functions. Scientists on the other hand, have been able to identify different ways and means of their communication such as, use of scent, touch and sound- which is only heard by themselves.

For instance ants use sophisticated communication to coordinate their specialized tasks. A key form of ant communication is the chemical signal called a pheromone. Many species emit alarm pheromones to alert nestmates to danger and attract them to the site of a disturbance. Some ants spread streaks of so-called trail pheromones on the ground to guide nestmates to food, areas needing defense, or new nest sites. The long lines of ants sometimes seen streaming from a nest are following these signals. Pheromones are also used to mark territory boundaries in some species. Intruders that enter a nest are attacked because they have a different odor than the inhabitants. Workers use chemical signals on the larvae’s body surfaces to identify and feed young in the dark interior of a nest. Workers groom one another in response to odors, and ants even rely on odor to learn whether a colony member has died. When a dead ant is discovered in the nest, it is carried outside.

The queen emits a large number of pheromones, which serve various purposes in the colony. Some of a queen’s pheromones attract workers to groom and feed her. Many pheromones given off by a queen affect the physiology, rather than the behavior, of other ants. For example, certain pheromones released from a queen prevent the ovaries of adult workers from maturing, and other pheromones from queen ants may determine the caste of the developing larvae.

Some ant species use sounds to communicate alarm. Carpenter ants drum their heads on the floor of their chambers, and leafcutter ants and harvester ants make squeaking sounds if their nest caves in. Nestmates follow these sounds to find and rescue the trapped ants.

Ants also use touch, particularly using their antennae, to communicate. Ants that have discovered a large food source may attract the attention of other ants by striking them with their antennae, legs, or heads. Some primitive ants engage in duels that involve hitting one another with their antennae. These duels determine which of the workers will be dominant and remain near the brood.

Much of the work in ant colonies is performed without direct communication. In these instances, ants take cues directly from the tasks themselves. For example, the collapse of a passageway will induce certain ants to repair parts of the damage, while other workers respond to later cues to step in to complete the job. The ability of ants to respond directly to tasks avoids attracting huge numbers of workers to participate in a task that requires only a few workers.

Scientists, further in their quest for knowledge and understanding of ants’ world have made remarkable impacts in global economy and technological advancement. The recent research work of Professor Mike Holcombe of University of Sheffield, showed that, through studying of ants, new discoveries in the areas of technology and Biology can be developed to improve human conditions. The research further showed how the study could improve Transport, communications, Mobile phones, Business networking and Computer networks.

It is therefore vivid that there can actually be no end to this great exploit in the world of ants for as long as mankind stands to benefit from them. This was further illuminated by another don from the same University, Professor Francis Retnieks, he said "there is much we can learn from the simple solutions ants have found for complex problems. Ants have been solving these problems for millions of years, while we humans have only just started to need to."

As there remains many human puzzles to be solved, may be a further visits to these creatures might provide us the solutions. Thus, we need to heed to the Wisest King Solomon’s Advice.