But over time, some species — including Camponotus floridanus, also known as carpenter ants — have evolutionarily lost them. “I wanted to see how an ant species that cannot use antimicrobial compounds to treat wounds would care for their injured,” Frank said. “In tibia injuries, the flow of the hemolymph was less impeded, meaning bacteria could enter the body faster. The researchers observed that ant-assisted amputations took about 40 minutes to complete, which is why the insects appeared to opt for femur amputations, but not tibia amputations. “We will keep studying wound care behavior in other ant species and try to understand its evolutionary origins,” Frank said.

---

Persons: Camponotus floridanus, Erik Frank, ” Frank, Frank, “, weren’t, Dany Buffat, Bart Zijlstra, Dr, Laurent Keller, Frank said, amputations, ” Keller, Keller Organizations: CNN, University of Würzburg, Switzerland’s University of Lausanne, University of Lausanne, “ Workers Locations: Florida, Germany’s, Bavaria, Ivory Coast, United States