Cannibal ants colonies found in the Polish nuclear weapon bunker

In the old nuclear bunker in Poland, a team of scientists found a group of cannabis ants that have been serving since on the corpse of their dead ant members. 

Ants display cannibal behaviour

It is reported that these ants have been reproducing inside the bunker since the Soviet Era. The main colony of ants was built inside the vertical ventilation pipe which was constructed for the bunker. The bunker was used to store nuclear weapons. The ants kept falling inside the ventilation pipe and could not return back to their colonies. Eventually, they started reproducing inside the pipe. However, it is interesting to know that these ants survived despite extremely severe conditions inside the bunker, where they had to survive: no heat, no light, no food, and no water. These ants evolved to survive on the corpse of their dead members and used it as their sole source of food. People reacted on Twitter on the discovery of the cannibal ants.

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Ants eat the corpse of their members

A team of scientists at the Polish Academy of Science led by Professor Wojciech Czechowski discovered that the ants present in the bunker have grown in a large number and they continue to make their little nests in the open worlds. The colony was first discovered in the year 2013 and the findings were published in a science paper which established that wood ants indeed survive on the corpses of its own imprisoned members. One of the professors  Dr. Istvan Maak who contributed to the works of Professor Czechowski gave this decisive conclusion. 

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Unique Evolution Ability 

Scientists have observed similar behaviour in ants during the spring season when there is a scarcity of food for the ants and they largely depend on the corpses of other ants, but that kind of behaviour is usually displayed due to ‘ant wars’. During the ‘ant-wars’ different colonies of ants fight among themselves and eat the corpse of the fallen ants. This discovery has contributed to a better understanding of ant behaviour. It concludes that ants have a unique evolution ability which helps them to survive in marginal habitats and suboptimal conditions.

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