The Original Suicide Bombers? Borneo's Exploding Ants Commit Suicide to Protect Colony

Borneo's Camponotus cylindricus ants are a little touchy: if they encounter a foreign ant in their territory, they will latch onto its legs with their jaws and then quite literally blow themselves up, spraying a sticky yellow substance over the unlucky intruder. Not exactly the most level-headed reaction, but an effective one for defending the ant's territory. A recent study in the journal Acta Zoologica describes how these volatile buggers release their noxious lather: by squeezing themselves to death with their abdominal muscles. When it comes to "yellow goo"—the researcher's actual technical term for the post-squish spritz—these ants are literally full of it. The reservoirs that house the liquid make up as much as half the volume of the ant's body and stretch from the base of the head to the tip of the insect's abdomen. The goo is made up of various irritating chemicals and strong adhesives that permanently ...