Newzity

Yes, they do play dead, but not to avoid bear attack. We play dead to avoid bear attacks. Fire ants do it to avoid attacks from other ants. A recent study found that young fire ants, when in danger, would curl up and play dead to trick the attackers.

Besides us, there are other animals that are smart enough to fake out attackers: Opossums are well known for it, and some snakes and even big bison are known to do it. But this is the first time we came to know about fire ants with the same trick. When ants from another colony come close enough for attack, the little fire ants curl up and pretend to be dead. As soon as the attacking ant leaves, they wake up and go about their lives. As they grow older and stronger they would try other ways to avoid the attack: middle age ants would try to run away, and older ones would fight back. The young ants have soft bodies and too weak to fight, so they use more clever ploy. It is the same survival mechanism we use: if we cannot fight the bear, we play dead.

So next time you see a dead looking curled up little ant, don’t step on it. May be it is just trying to survive a danger.