Like a Human Soldier, It Helps a Wounded Friend

The ants did not help his colleagues because of his kindness. Clearly a clear benefit for the ant colony: the wounded can take part in the upcoming battle and remain a useful member of the colony, "said lead research published in the journal Science Advances.

The ants, which can grow up to nearly 2 cm long, are specialized in termite hunting and use typical attack strategies.

Guide ants leave the nest to search for termite hunting sites, then recruit up to 500 fellow nests and lead them to termite nests in column formation.

Those injured in battle against termites, sometimes losing limbs and becoming disabled when termites grip them, then remove the pheromone chemicals from their bodies as a signal of help requests to their colleagues.

The unharmed ants then picked up the injured and carried them, as well as carrying dead termites, returning to the nest in the same column formation, sometimes up to 50 meters long.

Once back to the nest, the other ants then remove the termites that grabbed the injured ants. Then ants who lost one or two of their six legs were able to adapt to their movements, often regaining their running speeds similar to those who were healthy within 24 hour.

Almost all of the rescued ants participate in subsequent attacks, sometimes within an hour of injury.

Frank said, he was surprised to find such behavior in invertebrate species.

"At first it did not make sense to me why they should develop such a helpful behavior," Frank said. "After observing it more closely, we realized that the good of the individual, saving his injured companion, could also benefit the colony and individuals It can also be very useful among ants. "