3 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

All ants have some hair. Normally these hairs form an important part of the ants sensory world. They can sense vibrations and air currents. But why do some ants such as Camponotus thadeus and Camponotus fulvopilosus have ... fur?

 

This ant was recently photographed live in the wild for the first time. https://www.abc.net....sland/103369530

 

 

Ants are near relatives to bees, and bees use their dense setae to collect pollen. But that can't be the reason. 

 

Camponotus fulvopilosus a South African ant. 

[bmb1bee]

The first one looks like a Camponotus knockoff of dasymutillid velvet ants. Maybe some of them, at least the brightly colored ones, use the setae as some kind of visual deterrent against predators.

[ReignofRage]

In some species, dense vestiture (whether it be setae, pilosity, or pubescence) is used for heat tolerances for diurnal foraging, which tends to be more obvious in ants from arid regions. In other species such as the ones mentioned I would have to agree with the speculation of bmb1bee. For the mention of bees and polinators, multiple studies through the decades (seeming to start in the early 1970s) have found the use of dense vestiture to be for thermoregulation i.e. preventing and midigating the loss of thoracic muscle heat (May, M.L., 1979; Heinrich, B., 1993, 2009, and many more). I do think in some species, dense vestiture in ants is used for preventing heat loss.

[gcsnelling]

In some species, dense vestiture (whether it be setae, pilosity, or pubescence) is used for heat tolerances for diurnal foraging, which tends to be more obvious in ants from arid regions. In other species such as the ones mentioned I would have to agree with the speculation of bmb1bee. For the mention of bees and polinators, multiple studies through the decades (seeming to start in the early 1970s) have found the use of dense vestiture to be for thermoregulation i.e. preventing and midigating the loss of thoracic muscle heat (May, M.L., 1979; Heinrich, B., 1993, 2009, and many more). I do think in some species, dense vestiture in ants is used for preventing heat loss.

What Reign said, plus maybe they just want to look cool.