Submission + - Ants Build Rafts on the Backs of Their Young (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: There's no security in being a young ant. A new study reveals that, when their home floods, Formica selysi ants build a raft with their bodies to save the queen--and they put the youngest ants on the bottom. Flotation tests showed that this is actually a great strategy for survival: The bottom of the raft is not a dangerous place for them after all, the team reports today in PLOS ONE. Young ants that were part of a raft survived and later matured at the same rate as young that stayed on dry land. Further experiments showed that the young are more buoyant than adults, which makes them able to support the raft like pontoons on a boat.