close-up of Ant ! ~ கட்டெறும்பு

 

Ever seen a close-up of Ant !  - though the post, in general about ants – here is a photo of Black Garden Ant  (கட்டெறும்பு).  The black garden ant (Lasius niger), also known as the common black ant, is a formicine ant, the type species of the genus Lasius.  It is monogynous, meaning colonies contain a single queen.

 

In our school days, we read an interesting story about -  ‘The Ant and The Grasshopper’! – it was not a simple story but one that drilled  in our mind that ants are hardworking and conserve resources.  May be we are not seeing them that much these days ! more so because no mud walls, no trees, no space !! Rapid urbanisation coupled with frenetic pace of concretisation has taken away their habitat, leading to decline of many ant species. It is not just the Sphecomyrma ants that became extinct millions of years ago, many other species were lost in the last decade. 

Away, "force ratchet" refers to the force dynamics associated with a ratchet mechanism, a mechanical device that allows motion in only one direction while preventing it in the opposite direction. It is also a metaphor in other fields like Economics and Biology to describe processes that are difficult to reverse.   

Ants are social insects belonging to the family Formicidae, known for living in organized colonies with a strict caste system of queens, workers, and males. They are found worldwide and play a vital role in ecosystems by aerating soil, controlling pests, and recycling organic matter, although some species are considered household pests. Key identifying features include elbowed antennae and a narrow "waist" between the thorax and abdomen.  

Ants like to keep themselves  busy. They’re always either working on building and cleaning the nest, protecting the queen, or searching for food and resources. Ants are experts at teamwork and unity. They are born with a purpose, and they work together to achieve their goals through efficient communication. Productive and adaptable, ants have an innate sense of organization and determination that keeps them on track in spite of setbacks.  

Weaver ants have solved a problem that has plagued human teams for centuries: individuals contribute less to tasks when more people join in. New research shows individual weaver ants instead get stronger as their group grows.  "These ants are super efficient in their team work,” says co-first author Daniele Carlesso from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. “As the team grows, each ant pulls more force, not less, and the team works even better.” 

The longstanding problem in human teams was first published by French engineer Max Ringelmann in 1913 who measured students pulling on ropes and found that while total force increased as more people joined in, each individual's contribution actually decreased. The study shows weaver ants form super-efficient teams in which individuals actually increase their contributions as teams grow bigger, defying the declining performance affecting human teams. 

Carlesso developed a theory called the 'force ratchet' to explain this mechanism. "Ants at the back of chains stretch out their bodies to resist and store the pulling force, while ants at the front keep actively pulling," says Carlesso, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. “Longer chains of ants have more grip on the ground than single ants, so they can better resist the force of the leaf pulling back,” he says. Chris Reid says the discovery could help scientists design better robot teams. Current robots only output the same force when working in teams as when alone. "Programming robots to adopt ant-inspired cooperative strategies could allow teams of autonomous robots to work together more efficiently," says Reid.

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
4.11.2025