Ants � a superorganism? | Waco Ant Control

October 12, 2015

Ants - a superorganism? Typically when we think of ants the last thing we want to think about is an entire colony coming in any given area at one time. But did you know that research has shown that ants when working together as an entire colony actually functions as one giant superorganism? It makes sense doesn't it? Ants are very social creatures who stick together. When they feel attacked they will work together using pheromones to coordinate an attack against whatever is threating their home. When this theory is applied to using ants as a pesticide, miracles happen. Ants will hang out on trees like mango trees and by association, the fruit becomes protected by the colony as well. When other insects try to invade the territory the ants work together as an army to ward off the intruder. The research shows that the fruit produces a better quality crop too. The research also shows that ants can perform just as effectively as pesticides around these crops. Attracting the ants is the easy part. Farmers can hang nests coated in sugar water in their tree branches until the ants build nests of their own throughout the orchard. Ants would be harmful to would be intruder insects but relatively harmless to humans. For more information on ants, please click here