An astonishing video of an army of ants forming a bridge together to attack a wasp nest has gone viral on social media.
The old video was captured on camera in Brazil by an electrical engineer, Francisco Boni in 2018 and has resurfaced online.
“Attack of legionary ants (also known as army ants or marabunta) to a wasp honeycomb. Impressive the level of swarm intelligence and collective computation to form that bridge,” Boni wrote.
“Legionary ants” is a term that covers over 200 ant species.
Boni added, “When this type of attack happens, the wasps usually escape and the ants do not leave until they’ve completely looted the honeycomb, carrying pupae, larvae, and eggs, as well as some adults who did not manage to escape. They can even build across the water!”
Boni explained that many species of ants find it tricky to walk upside down. Apparently “for ants, it’s more effective to follow the trail over a bridge that goes down and then up” than having to navigate an inverted upside-down walk.
“Also likely that upside down the ants can’t carry significant loads,” he added.
