neutrino78x

Well, I have two great questions about ants. One of them has puzzled me since I was a little boy, and the other I have discovered more recently.

The first question is, why do ants carry away their dead? I have seen this many times. It seems likely that they do not experience consciousness, at least not in the sense that humans do, and they are certainly not intelligent to the same degree as humans, so I am reasonably certain that it is not a ceremonial act. I suppose they are using the bodies for food. Interestingly, ants are the only species I have ever observed carrying away each other's bodies. Perhaps because other species would simply eat the body where it stands.

The other question is this: why is my cat afraid of dead ants? I don't know if this is unique to my cat; I imagine it is not. But if I kill an ant, and then offer the finger containing the squished ant to my cat, the cat recoils in terror. I can only assume that the chemical signal ants emit to alert each other of danger is also detectable by cats, hence the reaction of my cat. However, why is it that my cat is not afraid to approach a line of ants which have been disturbed by killing some of their number? Odd.

Just some questions to ponder. lol...