Sick young ants release a smell to tell worker ants to destroy them to protect the colony from infection, scientists said Tuesday, adding that queens do not seem to commit this act of self-sacrifice.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Ants are some of nature’s most selfless animals. They practice ...

Abstract: Swarm intelligence has been widely adopted and successfully applied in the field of autonomous robot navigation. Among various swarm intelligence algorithms, ant colony optimization (ACO) ...

Move over, Game of Thrones—ants can turn armies against their leaders and use subterfuge to take over entire kingdoms, too. This chilling discovery did not originate with a professional scientist, but ...

Biologist E.O. Wilson once wrote that "ants are the most warlike of all animals," noting that clashes between ant colonies dwarfed the human battles at Waterloo and Gettysburg. But sometimes ant ...

Scientists say they have for the first time unlocked how a parasitic ant uses chemical warfare to take over the nest of a different species, by tricking workers into an unlikely assassination. The ...

Experts discovered an unusual form of regicide in which a parasitic ant queen tricks workers in a colony into turning on their own mother. By Rebecca Dzombak Rebecca Dzombak previously reported on ...

Ants are many things. They're hard workers and intensely social. They're quite strong for their size. And now they may also be a source of architectural inspiration too — for designing spaces that ...

The trajectory of life on Earth has always been predicated by genetic evolution, but two scientists from the University of Maine argue that culture is now the main force shaping our lives. A new study ...

Researchers have uncovered an unusual survival strategy in Iberian harvester ants that turns basic biology on its head: The queens can produce eggs that develop into two different ant species. A team ...

Humans benefit from caffeine in an assortment of ways, not the least of which is making that morning commute much more bearable. But a study recently published in iScience proves we aren’t the only ...