Ants pass us by on a daily basis, but what are the chances that they have any clue that we are even around?

Question

Ants pass us by on a daily basis, but what are the chances that they have any clue that we are even around?

Answer 1

Ants pass us by daily if we are sedentary (say at a picnic or an outdoor BBQ). They are aware of our presence from our scent trails. In this way, they are similar to other "scent-ient" creatures in that they posess tremendous olfactory senses.  On an intelligence scale and based on their body of collective works, I'd hazard a guess that ants are aware sufficiently as to compete with us for resources, adapt to their environment in spite of us and exist in a steadily evolving manner while also managing to perpetuate their race, again in spite of us.

As for ant cognizance, and any resident and potential intelligence, that's a little tougher to discern (they are so closed mouthed/"mandibled" about these things when questioned).  I'd say that similar to the formation of human and other animal societies, ants have evolved to their current state by an orderly entropy, if such a thing is possible. They do not appear to have had any "AHA" moments, at least none that they choose to share with us.  Their language and written skills are suspiciously absent from our awareness.  No ant has, if ants do indeed possess these cognizant skills, made successful efforts to find the unification theory between ant colony wisdom and man in society.  

More to the point though, it is we who have emulated ants and honour them with our mimicry of their culture.  Perhaps one day a human will be awarded the ant equivalent of a Nobel Prize, but I do think we humans have much to learn before they will acknowledge us as honourary adjuncts to their empire.  If we are separated from the ant world, we must question if it is our deficiency and lack of awareness, and not theirs.   I strongly suspect that we just are not worthy, just not adequately evolved to measure up to our little giants.

Answer 2

I think they are aware at some level. When I put my finger in front of one they react by running faster in different directions

Answer 3

Believe it or not i don't mind . An ant have five noses ,each of which has a different task to perform . and whenever an ant movies they left a small allover its path and other follow the small and when we put finger in the path the small get spoiled and it is a symbol of danger ,that's why ant start runing here & there

Answer 4

They know when you're around, but probably not too much about what you are. They sense the world around them mostly through vibrations and smells. They can probably sense the ground vibrations as we walk past, but not really know what exactly is making those vibrations.

Answer 5

An individual ant is not very bright, but ants in a colony, operating as a collective, do remarkable things.

A single neuron in the human brain can respond only to what the neurons connected to it are doing, but all of them together can be Immanuel Kant.

That resemblance is why Deborah M. Gordon, Stanford University assistant professor of biological sciences, studies ants.

"I'm interested in the kind of system where simple units together do behave in complicated ways," she said.

No one gives orders in an ant colony, yet each ant decides what to do next.

For instance, an ant may have several job descriptions. When the colony discovers a new source of food, an ant doing housekeeping duty may suddenly become a forager. Or if the colony's territory size expands or contracts, patroller ants change the shape of their reconnaissance pattern to conform to the new realities. Since no one is in charge of an ant colony - including the misnamed "queen," which is simply a breeder - how does each ant decide what to do?

This kind of undirected behavior is not unique to ants, Gordon said. How do birds flying in a flock know when to make a collective right turn? All anchovies and other schooling fish seem to turn in unison, yet no one fish is the leader.

Ant brains are largest amongst insects.  Mushroom shaped brain appendages have function similar to the gray-matter of human brains.



It has been estimated that an ant's brain may have the same processing power as a Macintosh II computer.

Answer 6

So that is an nths dimension huh! :-)

Answer 7

they know we are here,especially if your gonna stomp them. I had big black ants this early summer and got rid of them, but they would run the other way when i came after them with the "killing rag"!

Answer 8

Ants posses a peculiar aversion to stupidity, this is why they pass you on a daily basis. As I am sure you are aware, stupidity may be transferred from person to person, as is the case with Bill, and Hitlery. Who was stupid first is open to question.

Answer 9

Why wouldn't they?

Answer 10

Of all insects, ants seem to be pretty smart. I don't think they know the difference between a person and a rabbit, but they know larger animals exist and threaten them by either eating them, stepping on them, or kicking over the mound of dirt that they just spent 5 hours building.

I think they have evolved to know that they must act a certain way if they want to survive amonst us.

.....too bad the ones outside my window didn't evolve to be immune to Raid, hehehe!

Answer 11

Ants certainly know when you are around. They are always on the lookout for any danger to their colony and will savagely defend it. I know for sure this is true when I stand in my yard to hang out my washing on the line and get bitten on the soles of my feet or between the toes by the little blighters!

Answer 12

don't know...but I think it's a cool and interesting question...we are like giants to them...or are we??hmmmm