The female knows to stop adultery

Females in ants know how to create sounds that make other single "sisters" unable to hear their flirtatious melodies.

An anteater in Ecuador.Photo: birdfinders.co.uk.

Anteater (Thamnophilidae) lives in tropical and subtropical areas in the Americas. They eat ants, insects and some arthropods. After watching for a long time, experts from Oxford University (UK) found that ants' couples often duet together when competing for territory or competition with other couples.

But when the male came close to another female, the duet froze, giving way to the more complex melodies of the female to prevent the flirtatious flirtatious signal. In many cases, females sing loudly to overwhelm the love song of "husband".

In many birds, males use songs to prevent others from flirting with "wives". Some urban birds know how to change the song and soundstage to drown out the noisy sounds on the street. But the new finding is the first evidence that shows the behavior of "blocking love signals" among couples in the world of birds.

'The female seeks to stop her mate's confession signal so that the male cannot charm a certain female without a couple , ' said Joseph Tobias, an Oxford University expert.

The team thinks that the purpose of signal blocking behavior is to make the male's attractiveness decrease or to let the other single female know that "the heart of a singing male has a host" . New discoveries in antarctic birds can help biologists better understand how development of communication signals in the evolution of animals.

Now scientists have found more than 200 species of anteater. They have small bodies, round wings and strong legs. Their hair is dark gray, red, white, brown. Most ants eat in the forest, some live in mountains and plains. Females often lay two eggs a litter. Males and females take turns hatching eggs and feeding. After the eggs hatch, each child will take care of a young bird.