Unbelievable Footage Shows Millions Of Ants Building Bridge Together To Attack Wasp's Nest

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Unbelievable Footage Shows Millions Of Ants Building Bridge Together To Attack Wasp's Nest

An amazing clip that apparently shows a bunch of ants forming a bridge together to attack a wasp's nest has gone viral - and you can see why:

The footage was posted to Twitter by Francisco Boni, who wrote: "Attack of legionary ants (also known as army ants or marabunta) to a wasp honeycomb. Impressive the level of swarm intelligence and collective computation to form that bridge."

Attack of legionary ants (also known as army ants or marabunta) to a wasp honeycomb. Impressive the level of swarm intelligence and collective computation to form that bridge. pic.twitter.com/StvDkmv8x8
— Francisco Boni (@boni_bo) August 5, 2018

The video has now been viewed 700,000 times, and has also racked up 23,000 likes and almost 10,000 retweets.

Further into the thread, Boni explained more about the incredible scene, adding: "When this type of attack happens, the wasps usually escape and the ants do not leave until they've completely looted the honeycomb, carrying pupae, larvae, and eggs, as well as some adults who did not manage to escape.

"They can even build across the water!"

Bridge formation could also more be more effective for looting and carrying loads if it provides separate lanes that allow for more efficient traveling in either direction, eliminating congestion.
— Francisco Boni (@boni_bo) August 6, 2018

Studies show that ants partly optimise traffic flow. Ants headed back to the colony loaded up with loot use center lanes, while outbands ants use the edges. Ants are also sensitive to gaps and when other ants trample over their heads, so they start to follow other rules.
— Francisco Boni (@boni_bo) August 6, 2018

Referencing EarthSky, Boni also explained that many species of ants find it tricky to walk upside down. Apparently for ants, it's more effective to follow the trail over a bridge that 'goes down and then up' than having to navigate an inverted upside-down walk.

Another Twitter user, @godie1998, also took a stab at working out how this strange bridge started to take form.

They wrote: "They probably started as a straight path and started adding ants as gravity pulled the whole bunch down, so the bridge doesn't end up breaking due to linear tension. So the first minutes they built the bottom part (looks less vertical) and added on the extremes on necessity.

"It's only a hypothesis but - proportional to time - their bridge is perfectly reflective of gravitational pull of an object on free fall (so, as time went on, they expanded the bridge more frequently due to increased weight)."

Ah, nature. When you're not busy throwing us giant huntsman spiders and creepily huge, sex-seeking moths, you really can be pretty cool.

Source: ladbible