Cheaters Don’t Prosper in Any Society
June 17th, 2009 Posted in Ants & Roaches
According to a recent study conducted at Arizona State University, “cheating” ants are punished just like “cheating” humans. However, this relationship is quite different: having nothing to do with spouses, but rather, reproduction. Still, no matter if you’re an ant or a person, if you break the rules, you get chastised!
ASU doctoral student, Adrian Smith, said, “In ant colonies, workers usually support the queen, the only female intended to reproduce. But now, it is apparent that that is not always the case.”
Worker ants (ones native to Arizona, anyway) have been found to be going against societal norms and laying eggs of their own and hiding them from the queen. Once they’re found out, all hell breaks loose!
“We identified a chemical that shows up on [the cheater’s] surface that is correlated with reproduction,” Smith said. “Then we tested it to see if other workers actually use that chemical to perceive that the individual has become reproductive, and they did.”
Jürgen Liebig (haha LIE-BIG), an assistant life sciences professor working on the study said, “Once other workers identify these cheaters, they attack them, and therefore, prevent reproduction.” He went on to say the little cheats can be surrounded by up to 10 angry ants! (I wonder what they’re thinking. Are they really loyal to the queen? Or just angry that someone got to be a Mom and they didn’t? Hmm!)
The most important thing that researchers are taking away from the study is that it proved ant colonies closely resemble other societies, big or small, primitive or advanced, in the way they discover and punish those who deviate from the rule book.
“It’s like the common problem with all societies, an individual will do something that’s detrimental to the group as a whole, but to itself, it’s a gain,” Liebig said.
Rebecca Clark, a doctoral student also studying ants said that she thinks this research is a significant advancement in the study of ant life. “There’s no way to hide the fact that you’re cheating, if you’re cheating in an ant society,” she said.
Oh if only humans would produce a “cheating chemical” – the world would be a better place. Or at least, more just!
Alyse Popp
