Camponotus floridanus ants unexpectedly proved to be masters of field surgery. Scientists recorded for the first time how these insects save injured nestmates by amputating a damaged leg. When an ant is injured on its thigh, its companions, after a few hours, decisively bite off the damaged leg. Survival increases as a result.
The researchers did not observe ants touching the shanks; instead, they limited their actions to cleaning and “care.” This species does not have a gland that produces an antiseptic, so treatment is purely behavioral medicine.
Machine learning confirmed that the operation is effective only in the first hours after the injury. In other words, the ants’ response is not only instinctive: it also resembles assessing the situation, with the decision made not immediately, but after observing and evaluating the victim’s condition.
This level of collective care in the wild has been seen for the first time. What is striking is not so much the technical precision as the degree of social interaction. These creatures, with a brain mass of less than a milligram, show a level of concern for others that is not always found even among people.
