Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogebong. Here, you've probably seen stories about exemplary bravery
Speaker 1: and battles soldiers and volunteers who risk everything to pull
Speaker 1: injured compatriots out of harm's way so they can receive
Speaker 1: much needed medical attention. But some of these heroes will
Speaker 1: never receive any medals, parades, or commendations for their work,
Speaker 1: not because of injustice, but because their ants, a species
Speaker 1: called megapona analysis are termite hunting ants that scientists say
Speaker 1: not only rescue injured comrades but also treat their wounds.
Speaker 1: The survival rate among those injured in this combat is remarkable.
Speaker 1: Up to These ants live in colonies in sub Saharan
Speaker 1: Africa that average nearly one thousand members. The ants wage
Speaker 1: war on termites, raiding their nests and dragging the dead
Speaker 1: back behind the lines as a source of food. These raids, however,
Speaker 1: often come at a heavy price. The termites bite and
Speaker 1: crush the ants, ripping off limbs and snapping off heads.
Speaker 1: Eric Frank, a scientists at the University of Lausan in Switzerland,
Speaker 1: has studied these ants and seen them do battle with
Speaker 1: termites at a research station in the Comaway National Park,
Speaker 1: one of the largest protected areas in West Africa in
Speaker 1: northern code Duvois. He would watch the ants drag the
Speaker 1: injured back to their nest. But because the ants make
Speaker 1: their homes underground, it was difficult to divine exactly what
Speaker 1: happened next. So Frank and his team set out to
Speaker 1: discover what was happening inside the nest. First, they captured
Speaker 1: entire ant colonies and set them up in artificial nests.
Speaker 1: They then hooked up infrared cameras to keep tabs on
Speaker 1: the insects. The scientists also captured termites and then allowed
Speaker 1: the ants to stage a raid. Many ants were gravely
Speaker 1: injured during the melee, many lost limbs. They're able bodied.
Speaker 1: Comrades responded by staging a battlefield triage, separating the gravely
Speaker 1: wounded from the only slightly wounded. The seriously injured. Those
Speaker 1: who lost at least five limbs often died on the
Speaker 1: battlefield because, as the researchers noted, they didn't seem to
Speaker 1: want to be helped. That bend and distort their bodies,
Speaker 1: making it difficult halt for their sisters in arms to
Speaker 1: carry them to safety. Those whose wounds were less serious, however,
Speaker 1: allowed themselves to be cared for. Once back at the nest,
Speaker 1: the healthy ants set up an aid station where they
Speaker 1: tended to the wounded, licking their injuries. Ants who did
Speaker 1: not receive this treatment had a chance of dying within
Speaker 1: twenty four hours after the battle. Those who were treated
Speaker 1: had a survival rate of up to and lived to
Speaker 1: fight another day, to the benefit of the whole community.
Speaker 1: Frank and his team theorized that the licking saves lives
Speaker 1: by preventing the onset of infection. Today's episode was written
Speaker 1: by John Partano and produced by Tyler Clay. For more
Speaker 1: on this and lots of other Valiant topics, visit our
Speaker 1: home planet, toustaff works dot com.