Benjamin Blanchard March 9, 2017 News, Reports

Run, Cataglyphis, Run!

[UPDATED with a video, below]

Some researchers recently published a study in which they placed Cataglyphis desert ants on treadmills. Check out a discussion of the research here.

AntTreadmill — A futile life for an ant. Photo: Matthias Wittlinger

Update: In response to a comment by Boshua J’lanchard, here is a video of the treadmill in action:

11Comments

Add yours

1

Boshua J'lanchard on March 9, 2017 at 11:30 am
Reply

Where are the videos of ants running on treadmills?

LikeLike
- 2
  
  Benjamin Blanchard on March 9, 2017 at 11:53 am
  Reply
  
  Good question – the article has been updated. We hope it is to your liking.
  
  LikeLike
  - 3
    
    Boshua J'lanchard on March 9, 2017 at 12:14 pm
    
    Thank you! You have provided a video of ants running on treadmills, per my request.
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
  - 4
    
    Benjamin Blanchard on March 9, 2017 at 12:16 pm
    
    We are happy that this is satisfactory to you. However, we would like to note that you never requested that we provide a video of ants running on treadmills.
    
    LikeLike
  - 5
    
    Boshua J'lanchard on March 9, 2017 at 12:22 pm
    
    It is understandable why a mere myrmecologist would say that, having little understanding of the distinction between semantics and pragmatics.
    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicature/#PragSem
    
    LikeLike
  - 6
    
    Benjamin Blanchard on March 9, 2017 at 1:41 pm
    
    Semantics are clearly superior.
    
    LikeLike
7

Ravindra on March 9, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Reply

I love the puns in your posts. Great title!

LikeLike
- 8
  
  Benjamin Blanchard on March 10, 2017 at 7:44 am
  Reply
  
  I’m glad someone enjoys them – thanks!
  
  LikeLike
9

Philosophy Phriday: Ants Doing Math and Kids Doing Linguistics? | The Daily Ant on June 30, 2017 at 9:47 pm
Reply

[…] that the desert ant, Cataglyphis, has already been mentioned several times on this blog (see here, here, and here). As previously discussed, these ants have an extraordinary ability to find their way […]

LikeLike
10

The Daily Ant One-Year Antiversary: In Review – The Daily Ant on December 13, 2017 at 5:52 pm
Reply

[…] ant butts (twice!), ant metacolonies, ant nutrition, ant functional traits, seed-harvesting ants, desert ants, ant brains, ant pharmacology, ant hierarchies, ants and lichen, spiny ant bacteria, invasive plant […]

LikeLike
11

Robots. Chemtrails. Ants. – The Daily Ant on February 14, 2019 at 11:53 am
Reply

[…] researchers at Aix-Marseille University (AMU) produced a stellar robot that utilizes the methods of desert ants to navigate in an extraordinarily accurate fashion. As reported in Science […]

LikeLike