Get to know the phenomenon that causes thousands of ants to march to death

Look at this most interesting thing that was shared by the people of the G1 news portal! According to Gabriela Brumatti, the images you may soon see show a phenomenon known as the “circle of death, ” and when it does, thousands of ants end up in an endless march that results in ... That's right, your death ! But how does this happen?

Death march

Gabriela spoke with an ant specialist entomologist named Rodrigo Feitosa of the Federal University of Parana, who explained that these creatures communicate through pheromones, a substance that the insects exhale and that allows them to recognize each other, to differentiate members of the animal. same species of possible predators and seek food - or signal their location to the rest of the group.

Ants death circle

(G1 / Fábio Cheap)

In the case of ants, specifically, as they do not have a keen eye for movement detection, these insects are guided by the “smell” their little friends release. This is why creatures usually move along long trails.

Already the ants in the video you will see next, they belong to the species Labidus coecus - also known as "legionary ants" - and a characteristic of these creatures is that they do not usually build anthills and settle "residence" in specific places. Thus, the animals spend much of their time moving from place to place in search of food. And you remember that we said at the beginning that the ants release pheromones to signal the group where to find food, right?

Lethal confusion

It turns out that sometimes one of the ants gets confused, releases the pheromone without finding food, and then chaos sets in - when the stunned girl begins an endless march in which the whole group walks in circles, without stopping. and without finding the signposted food or a way out, until they finally die of exhaustion.

You can watch the video analyzed by Rodrigo and Gabriela through this link if you want, and then we included a clip that was shared by the people of the Universo Eco channel, on YouTube, which shows the same phenomenon caught in Pedra Furada Waterfall, in Biritiba Mirim, Sao Paulo.

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