FIRE-FIGHTING ANTS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 175, 20 April 1929, Page 28

FIRE-FIGHTING ANTS

A remarkable example of insect sagacity is given by a French,woman, daughter of the botanist, M. Gaston Bonnier, who declares that red ants organise themselves into fire brigades in case of fire, and put the fire out. Mme. Combes carried out a series of experiments at the Fontainbleau biological laboratory with the large colonies of red ants which are kept there (says the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Mail”). She placed a lighted cigarette on one of the ant hills, and immediately the alarm was given, and the insect lire brigade swarmed around and put out the lire by throwing formic acid on the smouldering tobacco.

The experiment was repeated several times with a smouldering cigarette, and Mme. Combes then planted in one of the ant hills a lighted taper, which the insect fire brigade also extinguished.

A lighted candle was finally substituted for the taper, and the ants put this out also in about a minute. Twice over-);een ants which were in danger of being burned to death by approaching the flame too closely were seized by other ants, and dragged into safety.