The social insects have been seen cleaning wounds and possibly administering antibiotics to prevent infection.
Wow. Awesome!
I wish I had something more intelligent than that to say. I’m not completely surprised at this discovery, but my mind is kind of blown right about now…
Researchers who study the ants have shown before that the social insects pick up their injured and carry them home. Now, the ants have been spotted caring for their casualties: cleaning their wounds and perhaps even administering antibiotics to fend off infections.It is an unprecedented glimpse of nursing in nature, a programmed behaviour that significantly reduces deaths in the ant colony. “What we show, for first time in the animal kingdom, is a proper treatment focused on a wound,” said Erik Frank, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Wurzburg. “We have anecdotal observations of wound care in other animals, but none that have been studied scientifically.”
Here is some video:
