Ants are fascinating creatures. Closely related to bees and wasps, they function collectively in a similar way.
They possess a hive mind, as it were, which operates like a biological computer algorithm enabling highly complex decision-making behaviour far beyond the intelligence of individuals.
These ubiquitous little insects provide a range of ecologically beneficial functions in nature:
• They eat many pest insects, limiting pest populations
• They clean ecosystems by moving dead insects, plant and animal matter into their nests, fertilising the soil
• They carry seeds to new areas, helping plants spread to where they may survive better
• They move similar amounts of soil to earthworms, loosening the soil to improve air and water movement
Sometimes ants become pests themselves by “farming” aphids and scale insects in order to collect the honeydew these sap-suckers excrete…
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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue #14.3