Ants are known to undergo extreme measures to save their own. Past studies have shown the industrious insects carrying wounded comrades back to the nest to heal and even exploding and sacrificing themselves to save their colonies from predators. Now, a team of young researchers in Panama has found an empathetic ant species that rapidly repair any damage to its host tree.
Alex Wcislo, a high school student, shot a 9 mm ball of clay through a Cecropia tree, leaving a clean hole, but he did not anticipate the holes to be entirely mended before 24 hours. The ant repairs were repeated multiple times as it happened over and over again.