The battle between ants and African elephants

An ant's eyesight is very poor, at a distance of a few centimeters in front of it it can see absolutely nothing. But it can be felt through the feet. And when the African elephant appeared, it felt bad vibrations.

The ant immediately emits alarm pheromones, calling on its fellow ants to 'attack'. Immediately after that, the ants hurriedly crawled to the larvae, and the other members rushed to the front line, ready to do anything to protect the nest.

Some of them even go straight into the largest trunk on the planet and create tears with their tiny jaws inside. If that isn't painful enough for the elephant, they will spray a stream of burning poison into the open wound.

However, the attack of the ants did not cause the African elephant to panic and leave, but it continued to break the thorn tree branch, causing the ants' nest to fall to the ground. The females and young larvae in the nest are thrown out and fall to the ground. Some animals were too seriously injured to be saved.

The ants favor the largest larvae with the highest likelihood of survival. The ant gently hugged it with its powerful jaws, and tried to bring it back to the tree. Because the longer the hatchlings are exposed to the afternoon sun, the lower their chances of survival.

Lesley Montoya

Update 14 April 2024