mayapuppies Posted April 19, 2012 Report Share Posted April 19, 2012 What are the benefits/complications of having the antennae of an ant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted April 19, 2012 Report Share Posted April 19, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae Found nothing on ants antenna, but for all other insects they are simply thier nose. I guess they need to be that way, if you don't have a big lung or forked tongue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 19, 2012 Report Share Posted April 19, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae I'd say it's just the F/X of Smell. Maaaybe Extra Limbs, but since they aren't used for manipulation or locomotion I'd say no to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted April 19, 2012 Report Share Posted April 19, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae We don't actually understand everything an ant's antenna do yet, so lets just say they are really important. The antenna aid the senses of touch, smell, hearing and taste. And in the insect world, ants have a VERY good sense of smell/taste, as it's one of their primary means of communicating and understanding the world around them. They do not have very good eyesight at all. If you watch ants in close proximity, they are constantly touching/tasting each other with their antenna. It was long believed that ants didn't actually hear sound, but rather detected vibrations, but more recent research has shown that their antenna aid them in ultrasonic communication. In fact, research shows that the pair allows them to accurately gauge speed/distance/direction of sound in what may be a short range form of echolocation. However if true, they still "hear" very differently than we do... ants appear to be largely deaf to normal human range frequencies. In addition to all that, they also use their antenna to measure humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide levels, though these may in effect be extensions of of their specialized senses of touch and smell/taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae I'd say it's just the F/X of Smell. Maaaybe Extra Limbs' date=' but since they aren't used for manipulation or locomotion I'd say no to that.[/quote'] I would say that they wouldn't need extra limbs-special effect should cover it. And for hearing sound and vibrations, I thougt our ears just feel vibrations and our brains translate it into sound? Isn't sound just vibration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSgt Baloo Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae I would say that they wouldn't need extra limbs-special effect should cover it. And for hearing sound and vibrations' date=' I thougt our ears just feel vibrations and our brains translate it into sound? Isn't sound just vibration?[/quote'] No. Its a matter of the sensory apparatus involved. You hear with your ears but you can sense vibrations via your sense of touch or even your sense of balance help you detect vibrations too faint for you to sense as "sound". What we call "sound" are those vibrations that we can hear without regard to whether any of our other senses can detect them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae No. Its a matter of the sensory apparatus involved. You hear with your ears but you can sense vibrations via your sense of touch or even your sense of balance help you detect vibrations too faint for you to sense as "sound". What we call "sound" are those vibrations that we can hear without regard to whether any of our other senses can detect them. True but isn't that is what the tiny bones in our ear do? Sense vibrations in the air they send the signals to the brain to be inerpreted as to sound? And sound does have a wavelength hence a vibration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae However if true' date=' they still "hear" very differently than we do... ants appear to be largely deaf to normal human range frequencies.[/quote'] That does not needs to have any infuence on communication. Every species hearing is best in the area that it uses for communication. When you have a human/ant being, this would still just be the normal human range at least. And some species like dogs and cat's have just thier "peak" hearign ability in a different area. Sure they do hear hirgher sounds than we, but they also hear things a lot less well in areas we are good in. For example some Birds can't hear large parts of our voice range and those they do hear, they hear really bad. Here is a comparsion between Hearing and Voice Range of species: http://thesleepymoose.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/hearing_range1.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Re: Ants Antennae True but isn't that is what the tiny bones in our ear do? Sense vibrations in the air they send the signals to the brain to be inerpreted as to sound? And sound does have a wavelength hence a vibration. Most insects have the complication of a Exoskelleton, limited lungs and having no place for a mouth (it goes directly to the stomach). So I think it makes sense that hearing, smelling and taste are put outside the skeleton. I know that flies for example taste with thier two front feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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