Yeah, we get pictures/videos of this occasionally.
Ants don't really do 'funerals'; even the dead in their own colonies are put into a garbage dump rather unceremoniously.
There's a handful of possibilities for this behavior...
Ants don't really do 'funerals'; even the dead in their own colonies are put into a garbage dump rather unceremoniously.
There's a handful of possibilities for this behavior...
1.) They may be attempting to bury it, especially if it's on a hard surface.
Lots of ants bury large food items to protect it from scavengers, other ants, and to absorb liquid which comes out from the prey.
Lots of ants bury large food items to protect it from scavengers, other ants, and to absorb liquid which comes out from the prey.
2.) The critter happened to fall into the colony's trash pile.
Ants put waste (dead ants, poop, shedskins, etc) into a large pile called a 'midden pile' which functions just like our landfills.
If something ended up in that pile, they could be moving stuff out of the way.
Ants put waste (dead ants, poop, shedskins, etc) into a large pile called a 'midden pile' which functions just like our landfills.
If something ended up in that pile, they could be moving stuff out of the way.
3.) The petals were already there, and the critter they're eating happened to fall into a pile of them. In this case, the ants would probably be moving the petals to let them move freely inside the pile.
Ants do weird things, but it usually revolves around productivity.
Ants do weird things, but it usually revolves around productivity.
