The short lives of alienated ants
Camponotus fellah (which you almost certainly know is a species of carpenter ant) have a lot of incentive to stick together. The worker ants that live and work alone enjoy only a tenth of the lifespan of their more social co-workers. While that stat is extreme, it’s not necessarily unique.
Isolation can also enfeeble rats, mice, pigs, rabbits, squirrel monkeys, starlings, and parrots.
And of course humans. What is it about being together that makes us — and the ants — more healthy? From The New Yorker’s Emily Anthes: Marching One by One.
Stay Connected