Ants

I was sitting at the kitchen table, desperately awaiting inspiration to strike me. As I was stoning, just sitting absent-mindedly, thinking of the next topic of my post, something caught my attention. It was a small group of ants. And they were all busy making their way towards the cake crumbs which I had so carelessly dropped on the table about a mere 10 minutes ago. But it wasn’t the ability to smell the sweetness in the air, or how they could discover the location of the food that amazed me. But rather, it was how a single ant could alert the rest of its colony, and lead them to the source of the food in such a short period of time that intrigued me.

Personally, I don’t think ants are very likable. They are different from those lovable creatures, such as dogs and cats. Unlike home pets, ants aren’t cute, furry, and nice to play with. On the contrary, they are teeny-weeny, insignificant creatures. We do not eat ants, nor do we find them entertaining and amusing in any way. Hence, I don’t think ants serve much of a purpose to us humans, unless you consider ‘white ants’ or termites that feed on wood. Anyway, how do ants communicate with one another? I don’t think ants can see much, and according to the internet, due to their compound lenses, ants see things broken up, like an image in a kaleidoscope. So this definitely does not aid communication.

But ants are fascinating little creatures. They have other special means of communicating. They communicate using tactile communication, which is a form of communication through the sense of touch. Ants communicate using chemical signals, known as ‘Pheromones’. This process, called ‘Chemoreception’, is the primary communication vehicle that allows ants to recognise other colony members, determine castes, signal attack or defense, and most importantly, mark trails to food or water sources. Hence, they are able to perceive smells with their long, thin and mobile antennae, which provide information on the direction and intensity of the scent.

So how does communication between ants relate to communication between humans? Ants are social insects, insects that live co-operatively in colonies, and exhibit a division of labour among distinct castes. Like ants, we are social creatures. We need to interact with our families and friends. If not, we’ll just feel lonely. Another similar characteristic is that both humans and ants communicate by tactile communication. Tactile communication is communication through touch, which is sort of, a mode of non-verbal communication. Although there are other more significant forms of intrapersonal communication, we also communicate a great deal through physical contact. Through physical contact, we can convey emotions of warmth, affection, or the opposite of it which is hostility, coldness, or anger. For instance, when comforting someone, we will not only comfort by words alone, but also by hugging the person. On the contrary, when someone is enraged, he or she might give in to anger, and give the other person a good smack in the face.

Coming back to the topic, ants are similar to humans in some ways. And more importantly, what we should bear in mind is what we can learn from them.