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Prof Mark Elgar:  P: 8344 4338 M: 0417 545 889 E:

Nerissa Hannink (Media Unit): P: 83448151 M: 0430 588 055 E:





“This communication highlights the impressive nature of ant societies because the colonies of some species, like weaver ants, can consist of networks of nests containing millions of workers,” said Professor Elgar.


The research team conducted experiments with colonies of weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) who are more aggressive to ants from nearby rival nests, just as sporting rivalry is greater between teams from the same city, prime examples are Carlton and Collingwood in Australian rules football or Manchester City and Manchester United.


“We find that once an ant has had an encounter with a rival, it can go back to its colony and pass on information about the rival’s smell and about how aggressive the interaction was.

“When a colony was exposed to intruders from the same rival nest repeatedly, we saw the encounters were increasingly aggressive, suggesting that ants were passing on information about the frequency of interaction to their nestmates as well as information about their identity.”

