According to a study carried out by Dr. Xavier Arnan and other researchers from the Center de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF),small worker ants are faster looking for seeds, a skill that could be attributed to the fact that their reduced size facilitates movement among the vegetation. On the contrary, the larger workers are better at transporting the seeds. They walk faster with the load on them and are less likely to lose it along the way. That is, the ability to firmly transport the seed increases as the size of the individual increases. Therefore,the seed transport chains in these insects are organized according to the size of the ant, from smallest to largest, until they reach the nest, and can involve from two to nine different workers.
The strategy based on the distribution of tasks and teamwork is faster finding seeds, safer when transporting them to the nest, but slower during the transport phase, since the seeds must be passed from the small ants big wings. On the contrary, the individual transport strategy is slower when it comes to finding the seeds, less reliable when transporting them, but faster in transport, since the ant that finds the seed is the one that takes it directly to the nest , without intermediaries.
The Spanish study, published inBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, reveals thatIf a large ant finds a seed, it is very likely that it will carry it to the nest by itself., whileif it is a small ant, there is a good chance that teamwork will start. However, the way in which teamwork occurs is peculiar: it seems that it is not of their own free will that the little worker pass the seed to the older worker, but rather that it is the large ants that “steal” the seed from the small ant to ensure successful transportation.
According to the SINC agency, the study was carried out in Castellbell i el Vilar, a town located near Barcelona. The researchers followed more than 206 fennel seeds (Dorycnium pentaphyllum), since they were collected by workers of the speciesM. bouvierito your destination. 64% of the seeds reached the nest, the rest fell.
