picky grave diggers

[togot]

hello, I have had a small species of harvester ants for about a year now, and they recently had a population explosion, so I have been feeding them as much as they will eat, but I have also noticed a lot of dead ants, or so I thought. every time I looked in the tank I would see at least one ant carrying a dearly departed sister. fearing something was wrong, I pulled up a chair and watched for over and hour, and what I learned seems odd. the ant carried her dead nest mate around the tank several times until she finally found a suitable place to put her cargo, but a few minutes later another ant happened by and picked it up, starting the whole process over again. I have since began removing any dead ants with tweezers (sometimes snatching it away from the ant carrying it) but I was wondering, is this normal?

[kalistes]

Hmm... Don't know the reason for the behaviour, but my rubra's do the same thing.

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Guys,
There is a logical reason for the removal of dead bodies, as in the wild ants normally take their dead outside the nest; and can carry their deceased to a midden which may be several metres away.
As you know, anything dead will eventually begin to rot away and become mouldy. To avoid any possibility of contamination of the nest, or cross infection from micro-organisms that breed on the decaying flesh, the ants remove their dead to a midden or 'ant graveyard'.

I know this sounds like something from a horror movie, but it is a fact of life. So as ants don't bury their dead like we do, they do have special places to put them. In a tank it is not possible for the workers to remove their deceased sisters, so they try to find a place to pile them.
Taking out any dead ants, or other dead insects which the ants have dropped in a corner of the tank is always a good idea, as this will help keep the place clean and tidy, and avoid any risk of infection

[wedge]

My ants selected a corner of my basin as a graveyard on day one!

They also drop bodies outside of my tank, into the moat, so I consider myself an undertaker colleague.

[Jenny]

In the case of the upright formicariums, it explains why they drag their dead down the airline and into the feeding area away from the main nest They could do the same with the Antstore starter kit

Wedge are you sure these are dead bodies, and not escapees trying to cross the oily moat?

[wedge]

heh heh, it is always a shame when the odd ant dies in the slick embrace of my oily moat, but for the most part they steer clear.

It's fascinating to watch the ants undertaking their undertaking duties! They really do drop the bodies in the moat on purpose, as if they know the moat is 'outside' their territory.

[Jenny]

I would clear the dead bodies off now and again, as ants have been known to use each other, (dead or alive) as a bridge and escape to victory