Is the man technically the most intelligent species on the planet? Judging by our technologies, from the Internet through building skills to the military industry, medicine and artificial intelligence, there is no doubt that Homo sapiens is the technical master of the planet.
But, from the perspective of ecological balance, man is an amateur compared to some species of insects. If evolutionary longevity is a measure of technical intelligence then insects are undoubtedly more intelligent than us. For example, ants and termites, “inventors” of the first evolutionary technology – agriculture – live in an ecological balance with the planet for millions of years. By contrast, our technologies, just a couple of hundred years old, become an ecological bomb that can explode at any moment.
For those who doubt that insects represent an equal technical competitor, here is an analysis of insect technologies from the perspective of our definition of technology. The best definition of technology was given by philosopher Richard Lia-Hua. According to him, all the technologies have four common components:
- Technique
- Knowledge
- Organization of the work process
- Product.
Technique is a group name for instruments (tools and machines), materials and the way in which instruments and materials are brought into a common function. Knowledge consists of applied science, skills and intuition. The nature of knowledge is variable especially in the historical context. Knowledge is the most important component for controlling the whole technology. Philosophers recognize two types of knowledge: tacit or subjective knowledge and explicit or objective knowledge. Techniques and knowledge must be organized in order to be able to deliver results. Organization of the work process is the combination of technique and knowledge with the aim of achieving a certain result. The result is recognizable as the fourth component of technology – the product. The product is the ultimate result of the association of the previous three factors, techniques, knowledge and organization of the work process.
Insect technologies
Ants from the genera Atta and Acromyrmex, also known as leafcutter ants, live in South, Central and parts of North America. They feed on fresh green leaves, which their digestive system cannot process. To overcome this biological barrier they made a symbiosis with one fungus and thus invented their version of agriculture.
The ants bring pieces of fresh leaves to the nest, chew them, and store them in the gardens on which symbiotic fungus is planted. They fertilize gardens with their own faeces. The fungus processes all the leafy biomass and turns it into food for the whole metropolis. The ant agriculture meets the above four requirements of technology.
Technique. For cutting green leaves an appropriate instrument is needed. An instrument used by ants for this purpose is part of their body: sharp jaws controlled by powerful muscles. Leafcutter ants use jaws as scissors for cutting fresh green leaves. One fork is in motion and represents a cutter. The second fork is fixed and represents a base for supporting the cutter. Combined action of both jaws of the leafcutter ants precisely cut the pieces of leaves that they then carry on their bodies.
Leafcutter ant in action. Her smaller sister, aka minor, is constantly with her. (Video: Dr Morley Read/Shutterstock).
Interestingly, leafcutter ants produce vibrations in the cutting process by moving the stomach. Most likely these vibrations are for two purposes. The first is that the vibrations have an effect on the fork. They turn the fork cutter into a vibrating knife or microtome, an instrument capable of cutting leaf material in an extremely precise way. Another purpose of vibration is to act as an audible signal for reporting to other ants that a fresh list of excellent quality has been found. Thus, jaws of leafcutter ants do not represent an ordinary tool but rather a precision cutting machine. The material used by this machine is the green leaf mass. The leafcutter ants obviously know how to use a cutting machine on fresh leaves to perform a cutting act. Are there other forms of instruments on their bodies? Surely. Glands containing antibiotic material are a kind of sprays for spraying fungal gardens. The infrabuccal pocket, located in the oral cavity is an unusual bag in which the fungus simbiont is transmitted from generation to generation. The body of the leafcutter ant is a real exhibition of agricultural instruments, in some cases sophisticated machines that could serve as an inspiration to talented engineers.
Knowledge. Knowledge is present in the form of an instinct in the case of leafcutter ants. The leafcutters obviously know how to cut leaves. They know how and when to transport cut pieces of leaves.
Transport of leaves into the nest. (Video: Dr Morley Read/Shutterstock).
They know how and when to form new fungal gardens. They know how and when to cure the gardens from infection when they are infested by undesirable parasites.
Organization of the work process. Small pieces of leaves are cut, transported from the cut-off site to the nest and surrendered to other workers. This is a mechanical plant. It includes leaves cutting and transport. The second part of the process is chemical or biochemical. The leafcutter ants will chew the pieces of leaves and turn them into a pulp. The pulp will be stored in fungal gardens, fertilized by their own faeces and inoculated by fungal seeds. So leafcutter ants play biochemical industrial games.
Product. The product is food for the entire ant metropolis. The chewed green pulp will eventually be completely processed by a symbiotic fungus into an edible product without which the leafcutter ant colony cannot survive.
