Open AccessDo Ants Use Ultrasound for Personal Communication (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)?
Author(s) -
ESPERSON J. R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
australian journal of entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1440-6055
pISSN - 1326-6756
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1994.tb01220.x
Subject(s) - stridulation , eusociality , biology , hymenoptera , nest (protein structural motif) , human echolocation , ecology , communication , orthoptera , neuroscience , biochemistry , sociology
This essay considers a possible solution to the problems facing the eusocial ants, most of which nest underground or in other obscure conditions, and carry out a variety of housekeeping tasks. Some ants are known to produce short sounds by stridulation with short periods between them, which are audible to humans. This is reminiscent of bats, which also live in caves, issue similar sounds, and are known to receive echoes reflected from objects around them, and thus build up a mental picture of their vicinity. Unlike the bats, I suggest that the ants produce sounds mechanically and listen to them via their chordotonal organs, but produce a similar effect.