Despite look like little blank space men exploring a distant planet , Saharan silver antsare very much Earthbound . But not many critter can do what these worm do , as they expend their days searching for target in temperature that would pop most other animals . New inquiry , publish inPLOS One , has disclose one of the aspects that allow the ants to manage this , and it ’s all down to the body structure of the petite haircloth on their silvery pelt .
live in the deserts of northern Africa , the ants ( Cataglyphis bombycina ) have developed wily demeanour to not only annul their master predator , but to also see to it a plentiful supply of prey to fee on . For most of the twenty-four hour period , they seek asylum within their nests buried in the sand , hold off for the temperature to climb as the Sun reaches its highest point .
When the air temperature hits around 50 ° C ( 122 ° F ) and the sand temperature reaches as high as 70 ° C ( 158 ° fluorine ) , the ant launch their forage parties in a frenzy of activity . At this temperature , most other animals fail , include an abundant supply of other insect caught out in the midday sun , which the emmet can then simply walk up to and take . But even the silver ants have their limitations , and are only capable to cope with rough 10 minute of intense heat before their torso reach a maximum of 53.6 ° C ( 128.5 ° F ) and they have to return to their nests or else fall dupe to the Sun . So specialized is this form of conduct , that it even has its own term : thermal scavenging .
The silver ants ' tomentum , as seen under a scan negatron microscope , with its triangular contour and the ridge on the surface that help reflect spark . Willot et al . 2016
The ants have developed a whole entourage of both physical and behavioral adaption to live on in such an extreme environment . Their stage are proportionally long than other ant coinage with like consistency shapes so as to keep them above the burning George Sand , and when out forage in the intense heat , they take regular stops – often on rocks or wood – and spin around to get a better sense of counselling . But it ’s the feature that yield them their name , the silver hair on their backs , that is the most intriguing .
early discipline have shown that the whisker ’s body structure , which is triangular when see at in mark - section , avail to reflect seeable and infrared light in a means not too unalike to a mirror . This not only has the essence of keep the insects nerveless , but also give them their argent sheen . Now , new researchhas rule that the triangular hairs actually do total internal reflexion of light , making them almost 10 times more reflective than ascendency ants , which the researchers anesthetized and then shaved .
“ The power to speculate solar radiation by means of full intimate reflection is a refreshing adaptive mechanics in desert animals , which gives an efficient thermal protection against the intense solar radiation , ” excuse Serge Aron , carbon monoxide - source of the latest cogitation , in astatement . “ To the good of our noesis , this is also the first time that total internal reflection is shown to determine the color of an organism . ”
They found that the triangular haircloth were able to keep the ants up to 2 ° blow ( 3.2 ° F ) cooler than when they were shaved , giving them a essential edge within their toasty timeslot in the desert to not only evade their predators , but collect the dead too .
