Ants’ Capability of Adding Numbers of Identical Elements

Abstract

Knowing that the workers of the ant Myrmica sabuleti can distinguish different numbers of elements and have a basic notion of zero, we here examine if they can add two numbers of identical elements seen simultaneously. As soon as after three training days, the ants could respond significantly more to the sum of 1 + 1, 2 + 1, 3 + 1, and 3 + 2 elements than to the two initial numbers of elements seen during training and to the wrong sums 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Their ability in giving the correct response seemed to somewhat decrease with increasing numbers to add. Twenty-four hours after the removal of the initial numbers presented during training, the ants no longer responded essentially to the correct sum of these numbers.

Ants Fail to Add Numbers of Same Elements Seen Consecutively

“…Consequently, the ants responded to (and thus memorized) the elements seen during training. This recalled what occurred in the course of the study on the ants' ability in adding numbers of elements seen simultaneously (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2019c) after the removal of the two stands used for training: the ants responded essentially to the numbers of elements seen during training. 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 colony A 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8 1.6 0.6 0.5 1.1 3.6 0.9 0.6 1.3 1.7 0.6 0.2 colony B 0.9 1.4 0.4 0.2 2.5 2.1 0.8 0.3 1.0 2.2 0.7 0.5 1.6 2.9 1.0 0.3…”

“…During training, the ants were rather numerous all around the two presented stands. They meanly were 6.3 in doing so, and could thus sufficiently see the two presented numbers of elements, as they did with numbers presented side by side (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2019c).…”

“…Working on ants, we have shown that these insects can distinguish different numbers of elements (Cammaerts, 2008), have a basic, concrete notion of zero (i.e. of nothing) (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2019a, b), and can add different numbers of identical elements seen at the same time side by side (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2019c). Human children are learned to add numbers of elements firstly by seeing them at a time, all together, side by side, generally under a presentation helping them to learn adding and subtracting, and secondly, about 6 to 12 months later, not seeing them under such a presentation and ultimately without seeing them (and in general learning then also the multiplication table).…”

“…Human children are learned to add numbers of elements firstly by seeing them at a time, all together, side by side, generally under a presentation helping them to learn adding and subtracting, and secondly, about 6 to 12 months later, not seeing them under such a presentation and ultimately without seeing them (and in general learning then also the multiplication table). After having found that the workers of the ant Myrmica sabuleti Meinert 1861 can add numbers of elements seen simultaneously (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2019c), we wondered if they might have accessed to the following step, i.e. might be able to add numbers of elements not seen at the same time side by side, but seen at different times, e.g.…”

Ants’ Mental Positioning of Amounts on a Number Line

“…Workers of a less evolved ant, Myrmica sabuleti Meinert 1861, have been shown to be able to distinguish different numbers of elements (Cammaerts, 2008). They could add and subtract one visual element or an odor from a number of visual elements or from a mixture of odors when the result of the operation was suggested during training, the tested ants reacting simply to the image or the odor resembling the most to what they perceived during training, and likely when this result is able to be used for efficiently navigating (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2019b, c, d, 2020.…”