Dysfunctional Dreamer

And The Question Is...

Do ants sleep? Really, I know this is totally random, but it struck me as something I should look up on when my mother told my sister(the avid fanatic of killing ants with pure skill by crushing them between her fingers), that there were no ants that early in the morning to kill because they were probably asleep. Hence the thought. Interesting... The answer? >>Some ants are sleeping like behavior have been observed: some workers of a colony laying around in a so-called sleeping position (Australian Carpenter Ants, Camponotus perthiana). When they are "awakened", they show a sluggishly moving. --E.O. Wilson

Other comments from my observations from Camponotus. Actually,a friend noticed this watching them on my TV. It seems that at least my carpenters will go into a kind of meditation or relaxed state. One can see their legs waving slightly. Many times a whole chamber will do this for a few minutes at a time until another worker comes in and wakes them up -- or one of them just spontaneously wakes up.

Why this is done? I think in many cases that most ants in a colony are just biding their time -- waiting between feedings or cleaning, etc. They act as a reserve for the colony. I think their "sleep" or "meditation" as I call it, may be important for
other reasons than we suspect. I am doing research with someone on this topic and hope to have more soon. It could be to conserve some kind of resource (say food). I personally think this is an unanswered question. Most ants don't sleep for eight hours, then wake up and work all day. It seems their cycle is much shorter - though when they forage outside they obviously don't do this.-Mr. Ant

I know this is quite a bit to digest, but well, we learn something new everyday, don't we? Even if it's about our tiny little friends...

posted by nori_b @ 7:17 AM