Would you trust an ant to amputate your limb? Science is showing they are skilled surgeons

By Christopher Terrell Nield, Principal Lecturer, Bioscience, Nottingham Trent University

An insect bites off another insect’s leg. Is this predatory behaviour, aggression, defence, competition or something else? In the case of carpenter ants, it’s for the good of the amputee and to the benefit of the colony.

A July 2024 University of Lausanne study found carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) carry out lifesaving amputations on their colony siblings. It is the first known example of a non-human animal amputating limbs to prevent or stop the spread of infection.

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