HUMANS AND ANTS
Ants and humans are actually incredibly similar in more ways than one. First, and probably the biggest similarity, is that humans and ants both live in very large societies. In a study published in the journal Behavioral Ecology, the author Mark Moffett states that "As a result, modern humans have more in common with some ants than we do with our closest relatives the chimpanzees." [20] Second, both humans and ants have designated jobs that they will work in and spend pretty much most of their lives doing. Third, is communication. Both ants and humans are really good at communicating between one another. Humans communicate with each other in a bunch of different ways, while ants communicate with one another by brushing their antennae together, through sound and especially through odorous chemical substances called pheromones [17].
Another thing humans and ants have in common is decision making. We as humans are constantly having to make decisions throughout our daily lives. Whether it be as simple as deciding whether or not you should eat a candy bar or whether or not you should skip class. Either way, what ever decision we choose to make, it will have an impact in our lives, maybe not right then, but it will in the future. According to Takao Sasaki, a researcher at ASU, "Although the ant brain is very tiny compared to ours, they show amazing decision-making abilities. For example, our recent study showed that ants are overwhelmed by many options and make poor decisions, as we do when we are doing online shopping." [19] Lastly, in the song "The Ants Go Marching," [2] it talks about the ants marching one-by-one in a single file line to a steady beat, as if they are on a mission. Being sung in the tune of the famous US Civil War song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," it almost makes you think about the military, as if soldiers are marching into battle. Which is something that ants and humans surprisingly have in common. They both often engage in wars and other types of fighting. According to ecologist and photojournalist Mark Moffett, "when it comes to war-fighting, ant species are more similar to humans than most other animals, even primates." [22] There are plenty more similarities between ants and humans that the list could go on. But what about the impact ants have on human societies? Ants actually have positive and negative impacts on human societies. A positive impact they have is they act as decomposers by feeding on organic waste, insects or other dead animals. They help keep the environment clean [17]. In addition ants may help keep potentially harmful insects, such as termites and agricultural pests, under control [18]. They can also pollinate much like bees, carrying nectar from one plant to the next [21]. While most ants don't really cause direct harm to humans, other than from their bites or stings, they definitely cause a lot of issues. The biggest problem ants cause is the killing of crops. Ants in large numbers can destroy a vegetable garden. This is especially true for red ants, which can number in the thousands per colony. They have also been known to keep other types of insects, such as aphids, in a garden because the ants use their secretions as a food supply [21]. Of course there is the problem of ants inside people's homes having some kind of negative impact like getting into your food. Although most of the species of ants seen in homes do very little harm, modern society often considers the ant a pest. Due to the adaptive nature of ant colonies, eliminating them is nearly impossible [18]. |