Ants PP

         Sub-Saharan Africa is home to a wide variety of insects. One in particular standing out from the rest, taking a human characteristic and imbedding it in themselves, heroism. The termite eating African Matabele ant, or the Megaponera analis, embrace the sayings “never leave a fallen comrade”, providing purpose and value of each individual ant. During invasion of termite nest in an effort to feed, many ants sustain a certain level of injuries, which they have adapted to overcome. If injured, they are shown to bring back these injured ants to their colony and provide aid for their recovery. In a study in 2017, these ants have been observed carrying all non-fatally injured ants back to their nesting areas in an effort to save the injured. In an experiment, scientists removed legs of some ants and notices a spike in response of their comrades. Their comrades quickly returning them to the artificial nest, where they began to clean the wound using their mouths for up to 4 minutes. This cleaning is believed to clear any dirt in an infection prevention effort, their saliva also believed to contain antimicrobial chemicals. Ants treated are shown to have a 90% 24-hour survival rate as oppose to a 20% survival rate if left untreated.