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Ants Trapped For Years in a Soviet Nuclear Bunker Survived in The Most Horrifying Way (www.sciencealert.com)

submitted 5 days ago by ooli3@sopuli.xyz to c/biology@mander.xyz

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[–] otter@lemmy.ca 22 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Wow that was a cool read, especially the ending

Although luckily for this colony, they no longer have to turn on their own: In 2016, researchers installed a wooden boardwalk (below) in the bunker, connecting the ventilation pipe to the ground. Within four months, nearly all the trapped ants had deserted the bunker floor.

Now, when any ants are unfortunate enough to fall into the dark chamber, they don't have to resort to cannibalism. They can just calmly walk the plank, all the way home.

I wonder if the ants have an understanding of what's down in the hole, since now they can visit without dying there. Some ants "grieve", and this colony was confirmed to have graveyards in the formerly separate bunker-floor colony, but maybe they have no reason to wander down there?

[–] protist@mander.xyz 24 points 5 days ago

When they say "graveyard," they mean "trash pile." Every any colony disposes of their waste away from the colony, and many will have a specific place they dump it. They throw their dead in the pile along with everything else that they need to remove from the nest.

As far as having an understanding of what's in the hole? Ants do not understand like that. They instinctually follow pheromone trails but don't really think about it.