When we think of ants, we imagine a line of military like creatures whose only goal is the transportation of that sugar you spilled earlier to their home. What you may not have noticed, maybe in your rush to get the bug spray, is that if you watched them long enough you would find they have unique personalities. Just like humans you find some are lazy, some hard workers, and others thinking of how to survive.

Deby Cassill, an evolutionary biologist at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, had her undergraduate class study the response of ants to invading ants. The younger ants tented to play dead when threatened, once the threat was over the ants walked away unharmed. This was due to the physical nature of younger ants being less capable for combat.

According to the article:

The exoskeletons of young ants are actually quite soft, so they’re more vulnerable to attack than older ants with thicker, tougher body parts,” Cassill explained. “They also don’t have a lot of attacking power because of the softness of their exoskeleton.

This isn’t the case for older ants. When threatened the middle aged ants tented to flee, most likely “lovers not fighters” type. The older ants which have tougher exoskeletons and downright grumpiness of having to still work (past retirement) are more then happy to put up a fight.

Humans in cases of flight or fight tend to flee unless cornered. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to play dead, unless you were facing a bear. Humans, in the case where none of the three choices exist, have created a fourth option: bargaining.

source doc: livescience

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