By Susan Milius
Without legs or much of a face, ant larvae don’t have many options for expression. They can sway, however, and when they do, they’re signaling to their nursemaids that they want food, according to the most detailed study yet of body language in ant larvae.
Researchers have long observed swaying by larvae of many ant species. And a 2003 study showed a positive correlation between a larva’s motion and getting a meal.
More details have emerged in a study of the tropical ant Gnamptogenys striatula by Bruno Gobin of RSF-Royal Research Station of Gorsem in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, and his colleagues.