Ants have an innate ability to recognize and treat wounds

Scientists from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have discovered that ants have the ability to perform medical procedures to treat wounds just like humans do.

The scientific journal Current Biology indicates that researchers discovered, while observing and following ants, that the carpenter ant species in Florida (Camponotus floridanus) recognizes wounds on the limbs of its fellow ants and then treats them by cleaning or amputating them.

Researchers say they have discovered a unique example of systematic amputation in the insect world.

The same scientific group had proven a year ago that the African ant Megaponera analis can treat infections it suffers from using an antiseptic produced by its glands.

But carpenter ants don't have such glands. So researchers decided to find out how these ants treat each other. The results of the experiment showed that these ants clean the injured area using mandibles - mouthparts with which the insect seizes its prey or food, and in some cases, amputates the injured limb.

Thanks to this method of treatment, the survival rate of ants increased from 40 to 90-95 percent in the case of amputation and from 15 to 75 percent in the case of treating a single wound.

According to the researchers, ants can diagnose an infection, determine whether it is contagious or not, and treat it over a long period of time with the help of their fellow ants. The only medical system that can compete with them is the human system.

The researchers point out that they have not found any evidence to suggest that the ants' ability to selectively recognize and treat wounds is an acquired ability, meaning that it is an innate ability.