Researchers Found Ants May Heal And Repair Wounded Trees

Researchers found that Azteca alfari ants found inside trees that they are frequently able to repair damage to their quarter. The ant repairs were repeated within time to time again. The trials were then written up and published as a part of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's (STRI) volunteer programme in Panama.

The discovery happened , when high schooler Alex Wcislo fired a 9 mm (0.35 inch) clay ball through the tree, leaving clean entry and exit 'wounds,' he didn't anticipate the holes to be nearly entirely mended within the 24-hour mark. Wcislo and five of his student pals continued their studies by drilling holes in additional trees to watch how they might be patched up.

Ethologist William Wcislo expressed that the results were surprising and was pleased by how [the children] devised a basic method for putting the idea that ants repair damage to their homes to the test.

Azteca ants and therefore the trees that contain them have a well symbiotic or generally advantageous relationship notably the ants will try their utmost to guard the trees from herbivores in exchange for nutritious oily secretions from the leaves to consume and shelter inside hollow stems.

The discovery that the insects also repair damage to their tree buddies if their refuge is threatened is novel. consistent with current research, this appears to occur more consistently when a colony's brood is in peril .

The repairs are created with material discovered within the plant stem themselves, although this is not always the case especially , barely 14 of the 22 drilled holes were repaired. It's possible that more research are going to be needed. A hole within the wall potentially disclose the ants' vulnerable immature stages to external infections, predators, or changes in other environmental conditions, which could explain their hole-repair behaviour.

Azteca ants will cover a number of the access points after digging into Cecropia trees, supporting the idea that their trunk repairs are motivated by their own well-being instead of any benefit to the tree. this is often supported by observations collected during the tests, which show that the ants will remove their brood before starting the repair work. It's possible that the repairs aren't made since the colony's most vulnerable individuals aren't in immediate danger.

Meanwhile, the researchers can't rule out the thought that the tree is taking advantage of the ant's actions, like antibacterial fluids around its wound.