Page 42 - The Miracle in the Ant

The voice signal produced by hitting with the body is usually used
by colonies that have tree nests. For instance, carpenter ants communi-
cate by "playing drums". They start "playing drums" in the face of any
danger approaching their nests. This danger may be a sound that caus-
es anxiety or a touch that they feel or a suddenly developing air current.
The drummer ant taps the ground with its chin and belly by rocking its
body back and forth. This way, signals easily may be sent via thin barks
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as far away as decimetres. The European carpenter ants send vibrations
to their nest mates who are 20 cm or even farther away by tapping with
their chins and bellies on the woodwork of rooms and corridors. It must
be taken into account here that 20 cm for an ant is a distance that would
correspond to 60-70 metres for a human being.
Ants are almost deaf to vibrations transmitted through air. However,
they are very sensitive to sound vibrations transmitted through matter.
This is a very efficient warning signal for them. When they hear it they
quicken their pace, they move towards the place where the vibration
comes from and they attack all moving living beings that they see
around.
No disobedience to this call by any of the members of the colony is
an indication of successful organization of the ant society. One must
admit that even a small human society responding to an alarm call col-
lectively, at the same time, without any exception, and without anarchy
developing, is a very difficult thing in practice. Yet ants are able to do
what they are ordered without losing any time and so they are able to
lead their lives without interrupting the discipline within the colony even
for a moment.
The production of high sounds is more complex as a system than the
process of playing drums. The sound produced is created by rubbing
certain parts of the body together. Ants produce this sound by rubbing
together the organs at the rear of their bodies. If you get your ear close
to the worker harvester ants, you may hear them produce a high pitched
voice all the time.
Three major functions of voice communication have been discovered
in different species. These may be listed as follows:
1. Voice communication in leaf cutter ants functions as an under-
ground warning system. It is usually used when a portion of the colony
is buried under a cave-in of the nest. Workers start moving to perform
rescue excavations responding to received sound signals.

Kar›nca Mucizesi
42 THE MIRACLE IN THE ANT