An accidental slingshot hit on a Cecropia tree in Panama has led to a surprising discovery: the Azteca alfari ants are often ready to fix damage to their living homes.
Alex Wcislo didn't expect the holes to be completely repaired before the next day.
Wcislo and his friends drilled holes in other trees to see how they would be patched up.
The ant repairs happened time and time again. The experiments were written up and published as part of the volunteer program at theSTRI in Panama.
The research team is working. Donna Conlon is a person.
William Wcislo was surprised by the results. I was impressed by how the students developed a simple way to test the idea that ants repair damage to their home.
The Azteca ants and the trees that they live in have a good relationship, as the ants will do their best to defend the trees against herbivores.
The insects repair damage to their tree friends if the shelter is threatened. The new research shows that this happens most often when the brood is at risk.
Azteca ants protect the Cecropia tree. NancyAyumi/iStock is one of the photographers.
Repairs are made using material found within the plant stem, but it doesn't happen in every case, and only 14 of the 22 holes were used for repairs. Further research could be done to understand why this is the case.
The researchers wrote in their paper that hole repair behavior could be due to a hole in the wall exposing the ants' vulnerable immature stages to external pathogens, or changes in other environmental parameters.
Azteca ants will close up some of the entry points after burrowing into the Cecropia trees, adding credence to the idea that their trunk repairs are more to do with their own wellbeing than the tree itself.
The observations made during the experiments show that the ants will leave their brood before starting the patch up job. It's possible that the vulnerable members of the colony aren't directly under threat when the repairs aren't carried out.
The team can't completely rule out the possibility that the tree is getting some benefit from this ant behavior.
The holes left by the toenails of sloths and anteaters may be why the ants they're hosting have evolved to behave in this way.
Alex Wcislo, who studies at the International School of Panama, says that messing with a slingshot can have a good outcome.
The project allowed us to see all the work that goes into a scientific study. It was a great learning experience, even though it was difficult due to COVID-19.
The research was published in a journal.
