WHEN facing oncoming floodwaters, ants use their helpless babies as floating life-preservers – by sticking them at the very bottom of the life-rafts that they build with their own bodies.
The findings, described in a paper published in PLOS One, reveal that ant rafts have a fascinating internal structure – one that maximises the group’s buoyancy and thus, their chances of survival. But it puts the young ant brood at the very bottom of the boat, exposed to hungry fish and the risk of drowning.
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