Can ants see in ultraviolet spectrum and do they hunt by detecting carbon dioxide?

Question

Can ants see in ultraviolet spectrum and do they hunt by detecting carbon dioxide?

Answer 1

It varies between different ants, but typically ants have UV receptors and green receptors in their compound eyes.

Ants don't hunt by detecting carbon dioxide. But they are good at detecting it. It indicates to them the presence of a mammalian predator and acts like an alarm pheromone. If you breath onto an ant colony (of decent sized ants like carpenter ants), they will become agressive if they are in the close vicinity of their nest ready to defend the nest. The same with wasps or bee colonies.

Away from the nest there is nothing to defend, so they are more likely to run away.