Insects are masters of transportation and get around by flying, crawling, swimming, burrowing, and even gliding. Now, ants have been observed using a new method of getting around: hitchhiking. These social insects pack up the whole family, including their queen, and hop in the car for an opportunistic ride to a new area where they can set up a home.
Yang's study was a citizen science effort that incorporated social media reports from people throughout Taiwan. The work primarily studied ant populations and their hitchhiking on the island, and it included examples of species such as the ghost ant and the black cocoa ant. In the study, factors such as the time of year, weather, type of car, location, duration of stay, and number of ants were examined to better understand the patterns which gave rise to a successful hitchhiker colony.
Most personal vehicles offer no real food or shelter, but when ants live in overcrowded colonies, they look to leave and find a new, bigger home. Native species of ants tend to face these pressures less frequently, meaning invasive species are more likely to hitchhike, further dispersing these insects into new areas.
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Source: physorg_com - 🏆 388. / 55 Read more »