By Elton Gomes
A new species of ant has been discovered in Borneo. One of the inherent defence mechanisms of this ant species has stumped researchers it literally explodes when threatened. The new breed is known as Colobopsis explodens.
According to Phys.org, when threatened by other insects, these minor worker ants explode, rupturing their body wall. This explosion results in the ants imminent death. In addition, the explosion leads to a sticky, toxic liquid being released from the ants’s enlarged glands. This toxic liquid holds off the enemy or kills it.
New Species of Exploding Ant ‘Particularly Prone to Self-sacrifice’ Discovered in Borneohttps://t.co/sOheHVKSOx pic.twitter.com/Lr9xtaNoz8
Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) April 19, 2018
Here’s what you need to know the new ant species
The insects were found living in tree tops. They reside in leafy canopies of trees that grow as tall as 197 feet. When the ants feel threatened, they gang up on potential attackers, and rupture themselves in the abdomen. However, this “explosive” task is only performed by sterile female ants.
This self-destructing behaviour of the ants was first mentioned in 1916, but no new species have been described since 1935, as reported by Phys.org. Scientists simply referred to the ants as members of a group named Colobopsis cylindricabetter known as the exploding ants.
The new ant species was formerly known as “yellow goo”, named after their brightly coloured toxic discharge. According to a report by Live Science, “Their colonies can contain thousands of individuals, inhabiting the leafy canopies of trees that stand as tall as 197 feet (60 meters), and covering an area of at least 26,900 square feet (2,500 square meters), the study authors reported.”
A report in the Guardian mentioned: “The small, reddish ant was discovered living in the treetops of Borneo by a team including Alice Laciny, an entomologist with the Natural History Museum in Vienna, who described how the ants would detonate themselves to save other members of the colony.”
Laciny said that the toxic yellow substance released when the ant is threatened, has a distinct and not unpleasant smell thats strangely reminiscent of curry, the Guardian reported.
Aside from tearing themselves apart, these ants also unleash a secretion that is bright yellow, sticky, and toxicall to protect the colony https://t.co/kU3jIPdiB1
National Geographic (@NatGeo) April 19, 2018
Laciny told AFP that such an occurrence was “very rare in nature.” Only a handful of “social” insects, such as ants and bees, were known to have such altruistic behaviour. The colony is like a superorganism and the individual animal like a cell in a body with its special role to play,” she added.
Tomer Czaczkes, a behavioral ecologist specializing in ants, at the University of Regensburg, Germany, said that science has known of exploding ants for more than a hundred years, but that they have been very rare.
This self-destructing behaviour has a namescientists call this autothysis”a suicidal behaviour that has been documented in other termites.
Chemical warfare in the jungle
Live Science reported that many animals spew toxic substances, when defending themselves from attackers. Some types of snakes, spiders, insects, fish, reptiles, among others, sting, stab, or bite to spread their toxins. But other animals such as skunks, scorpions, and bombardier beetles, spray deadly chemicals.
The exploding ants are just one among many singular creatures in the animal kingdom that appear to have been blessed with advanced, and unique defence mechanisms.