The ants effectively organize the timely removal of the bodies of dead brethren, which prevents possible infection of the colony when the corpses rot.
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Some scientists have suggested that these insects simply feel the decay products, but a new study provides a different explanation.
Entomologists at the University of California Riverside have found that Argentine ants are able to detect dead ants even before any decomposition processes begin in their bodies.
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What’s more, they found that live ants secrete two chemicals, dolichodial and iridomir-metsin. These compounds inhibit the so-called necrophoresis – the removal of the dead bodies of relatives from the colony. Both chemicals quickly dissipate after the death of the insect: after ten minutes, their concentration drops by half.