Can Ants Hear? Are They Deaf?
Yes, ants can hear. They do, however, do so in a very different way from us humans. Ants are deaf to airborne sounds. Instead, they hear by detecting substrate-borne vibrations.
In this article we’ll look deeper into how ants perceive sound as we discuss the following:
- How ants hear
- How ants use sound
- If and how ants produce sound
How Do Ants Hear?
Ants don’t hear sounds the same way that we do. Without ears, ants are deaf to airborne sounds. Instead, they hear by detecting vibrations transmitted through solid objects.
They do so through the sensilla and subgenual organs found on their legs. These subgenual organs are the primary receptors for substrate-borne vibrations. They pick up vibrations and relay the information to the brain for processing. [1]
How Do Ants Use Sound?
Ants make use of sound to communicate. They produce sounds or vibrations that send out different types of signals. These signals are as follows:
Alarm or Danger Signal
Ants mostly use sound to send out alarm or danger signals. For example, Ants of the genus Atta use sound when they get buried and trapped. They do so to notify their nestmates and prompt them to initiate rescue digging. [2]
Carpenter ants also produce sound to notify their nestmates when they sense danger. [3]
Mating Signal
Young queens of Pogonomyrmex ants use sound as a mating signal. Specifically, they produce sound to send out the signal to stop mating. This informs the drones to stop pursuing them and allows them to escape from the swarm. [4]
Complement to Chemicals
Studies have discovered that some ant species use sound to enhance chemical communication. Along with chemicals, these ants use sound as a mechanical signal to initiate nest-moving. [5]
Do Ants Produce Sound?
Yes, ants do produce sound. They do so through drumming and stridulation.
Drumming
Drumming is a form of sound production mostly found in social insects that live in wooden nests. It’s used as an alarm signal and is usually produced when there’s danger or a disturbance.
To drum, ants rock violently back and forth to strike the substrate with their bodies. This produces vibrations that trigger a reaction from their colony mates.
Stridulation
Stridulation is a more sophisticated sound-producing behavior. It’s used to send out alarm and mating signals and as a complement to chemicals.
To stridulate ants move and rub segments of their gaster together. They use one segment of the gaster like a scraper to rub a file in another. This results in a chirp-like sound that they use to convey information.
Related Questions
Do Ants Have Ears?
Like many invertebrates, ants don’t have ears. Such is why they can’t detect sound in the same way that we humans do. They hear using vibrations.
How Do Ants Communicate?
Ants mostly communicate using scent and chemical signals called pheromones. However, they may also communicate using body language, touch, and sound.
See this article to learn more about how ants communicate.
Can Ants See?
Most ant species can see. Ants generally have a visual system composed of compound eyes and ocelli. These allow them to detect movement, light, and color.
That said, their vision isn’t as developed as ours. Some ants even have no eyes at all and are completely blind.
Check out this article to learn more about ants and their vision.
Summary: Can Ants Hear?
To summarize, yes ants can hear. Despite their lack of ears, ants have developed their own system to detect and decode sound.
While they can’t detect sound waves from the air, they can hear through vibrations. They do so through their subgenual organs which detect vibrations passing through solids.
With that, ants are capable of using sound to communicate. In fact, they produce sound to send out alarm, mating, and recruitment signals.
