3 replies to this topic

[OhNoNotAgain]

I've been giving whole dandelion heads to various harvester ants (Veros/Pogonomyrmex) for some years. I noticed that younger colonies don't seem to know what to do with them.

In fact, in this video I also relate the funny story of this Veromessor pergandei colony from 2019, where one nanitic would painstakingly haul in a dandelion seed, and her sister in the nest would discover the fluff and haul it out as trash. I can't find photos/footage from that event, but this is my oldest Vero colony (coming up on 6 years old) and this is the process they developed.

 

All this to say - and I can imagine some more of you more experienced ant people may disagree - I have a theory ants have to learn how to (1) recognize dandelion seed heads as food and then (2) how to disassemble the seed head and process the seeds (taking off the fluff, etc).  I'm sure some of what they do is hardwired, but I think a good bit of it is learned.

 

I really enjoy seeing how ant colonies learn over time (like my other "young colonies are dumb" story of the Camponotus fragilis figuring out fruit flies are food, not enemies).

 

Anyway here's the video ... I don't narrate so it's a ton of text to read through, sorry.

 

 

 

[Ernteameise]

I agree-

my Messor harvester ants needed to learn how to deal with dandelion seed, first. At first, they were very clumsy trying to get the flying part off.

The same is true for round seed- the first time I fed round seed to them, they did not know how to handle it, how to pick it up and transport it.

It definitely did not look as if there was a hardwired instruction manual programmed in their brain and they just took longer to extract the zip file.

They went through a trial and error phase and learned how to do it.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

I agree-

my Messor harvester ants needed to learn how to deal with dandelion seed, first. At first, they were very clumsy trying to get the flying part off.

The same is true for round seed- the first time I fed round seed to them, they did not know how to handle it, how to pick it up and transport it.

It definitely did not look as if there was a hardwired instruction manual programmed in their brain and they just took longer to extract the zip file.

They went through a trial and error phase and learned how to do it.

My question is do they all?
Like do you observe younger/newer ants having to figure it out, while older experienced ants around them already know what to do?
Or was there a point at which all workers of all ages, just did all know what to do now including the newest ones who could be known to be interacting for their first time with a dandelion?

Did it become knowledge they seem to all have now new and old alike, or is it clear each new worker to go outside has to figure it out for themselves?

[Voidley]

This is something I’d like to know too. I’m really curious about how ants learn: both as individuals and as a collective colony. I know of behaviors like tandem running, where experienced ants guide new workers to food/new nesting sites instead of them having to figure it out themselves. This definitely feels like teaching, so I wouldn’t be surprised if other behaviors (like how to process a certain food) could be taught and learned as well.

Perhaps you could mark a young worker and observe its initial foraging behavior for dandelion seeds. Then, you could track its behavior over time to see if it changes on its own or if it learns from its sisters. However, it may be hard to distinguish if it is self-teaching or being instructed.