'Death scent' helps ants realize dead bodies

When an ant dies, other members will quickly bury it to prevent the risk of spreading the disease. Until recently, scientists understood why they could detect dead ones.

For decades, scientists believe that when ants die, their bodies will secrete certain chemicals in the process of decomposition (such as fatty acids) to signal to others that they have died.

A group of students from the University of California (USA) decided to study ants in Argentina (tiny, dark, colored ants living in the north of the country) to test the hypothesis.

In the process of understanding, the group of students found that all ants, whether alive or dead, constantly secreted chemicals that signaled death. But live ants produce some chemicals related to life. When ant life ends, chemicals that signal life will dissipate. Those who live will only smell chemicals that signal death.

'Dead ants have a different smell when they are alive, so others can recognize and bury them, not because of the release of new chemicals after death' , Dong-Hwan Choe, the leader of the research team, stated.

Choe said that the finding will help scientists devise an effective strategy to kill insects without using a lot of pesticides. When spraying a water-repellent insecticide and a slow reaction to the ants, of course some will die. When a child collapses in a nest, others are forced to take it out and pesticides will spread from the dead to the living. That way, a small amount of pesticides can kill more ants than traditional methods.