A friend linked to a post about the book Ant Encounters: Interaction Networks and Colony Behavior (Primers in Complex Systems)
Every summer, I get calls from people who are puzzled to find a heap of dead Argentine ants in their freezer. The ants are attracted to something, presumably an odor, in the rubber lining of freezer doors. No ant finds the freezer and goes back to recruit the others; once an ant goes in the freezer, it is doomed. But since the ants lay trail wherever they go, the ants that are attracted to the freezer all lay a trail on their way to it, and this is reinforced by more curious but equally doomed ants. Since Argentine ants are enormously abundant in many parts of the world, this procedure must lead to food more often than to the untimely death of many ants.
This, of course, all relates to my experiences with ants on the toothbrush…
Perhaps I should put my toothbrush in the freezer? Or we need to get in touch with Deborah Gorton?
*adds to Amazon Wishlist*
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