Can ants suffer from pain?

[BrightLight]

I have too many colonies of ants in my backyard so I plan to dig open some and pour boiling water into it to wipe out as many ants as possible. Being a healthcare professional, I care deeply about the suffering of others (even if they are not humans). Before I proceed, I want to ask all you knowledgeable folks whether you know ants can suffer from the pain of boiling water. I have done a google search, but answers vary widely. Please contribute your valuable inputs.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Its Z]

POTD!

Great Poster.. Would Read Again! A+++++++

 

[owlegrad]

Any reason not to sprinkle the lawn poison stuff? Or just have someone come out and spray?

 

[BrightLight]

Any reason not to sprinkle the lawn poison stuff? Or just have someone come out and spray?

Poison in my beloved backyard?! No, no, no...

 

[Sparda29]

While on the topic of insect infestations, check out this crazy bee hive found inside a home in Texas.

http://www.viralviralvideos.com/2011/08/31/bees-take-over-house-turning-it-into-a-giant-bee-hive/

Burn it down, just burn it all down.

 

[crazybob]

I'm surprised Owlegrad didn't say: "SDN is not for medical advice."

 

[owlegrad]

I'm surprised Owlegrad didn't say: "SDN is not for medical advice."

I am not sure that asking if ants experience pain qualifies as medical advice. Interestingly, if this was posted in the vet forums it probably would.

I think studying for law is rubbing off on me.

 

[iFarm]

You should probably safely relocate each and every ant. Or just relocate yourself, and give them their land back.

Cuz if you kill even one, you've caused suffering for all of them. That's their cousin Antonio, or brother Anthony, or sister Antoinette!

 

[SortingItOut]

I have always wondered myself if killing invertebrates with extreme heat was cruel.

With ant colonies,you have a few issues. First, some nests are pretty deep. Second, you would have to kill enough workers and the queen.

If you are open to pesticides, but don't want to spread it all over the lawn, you can buy those stakes where the foragers or whatever you call them take poisoned food back to the nest.

There are non-pesticide options too such as coffee grounds. Lots of sources on the internet.

My personal opinion about ants is that they are everywhere, and unless they are attacking my garden plants or invading my home, I don't worry about them. Fortunately I don't live in a fire ant zone either.

 

[Praziquantel86]

Napalm.

 

[Ackj]

Spiders, lots and lots of spiders. They're a hungry folk.

 

[Its Z]

If you're really serious about getting rid of ants naturally, you can try "Beneficial Nematodes" though it may not be as effective in removing fire ants. But if you have enough nematodes, covering your entire lawn, the ants will either get eaten or move away. And it becomes your neighbors problem.

 

[xtsukiyox]

I had really good experiences with instant grits with both sugar & carpenter ants. However, I imagine the experience of dying from grits expanding (or whatever it is that kills them) is probably not very pleasant, if ants can feel it.

I successfully kept ants out of my house for a couple days during finals week with a thick line of garlic powder. Kept 'em from (re)finding the cats' food bowl, too, until I could go get those ant traps from the home improvement store. For the curious, poison traps, not catch & release traps.

 

[Solmyr]

Gee I don't know... time to do a test.

Q: Can ants suffer from the pain of boiling water?

Let's do a test.

Null hypothesis: Ants suffer the same amount of pain whether it's regular water or boiling water.

Materials: Two ant hills. One cup of boiling water. One cup of regular water.

Method:
1) Find a location with two ant hills.
2) Pour boiling water on one hill
3) Pour regular water on the other hill
4) Gather ants from both colonies. Remove amygdala from every ant, and compare the size of amygdala from the ants from hill 1 to the ants from hill 2.
5) If the average amygdala sizes differ, then you reject the null hypothesis.

 

[owlegrad]

Gee I don't know... time to do a test.

Q: Can ants suffer from the pain of boiling water?

Let's do a test.

Null hypothesis: Ants suffer the same amount of pain whether it's regular water or boiling water.

Materials: Two ant hills. One cup of boiling water. One cup of regular water.

Method:
1) Find a location with two ant hills.
2) Pour boiling water on one hill
3) Pour regular water on the other hill
4) Gather ants from both colonies. Remove amygdala from every ant, and compare the size of amygdala from the ants from hill 1 to the ants from hill 2.
5) If the average amygdala sizes differ, then you reject the null hypothesis.

But how do you blind the ants to which treatment they are receiving?

 

[Solmyr]

In all seriousness though, as long as the ants doesn't crawl into your house, then leave them be. If you're really concerned though, better to call a professional exterminator and ask him to remove the ants as humanely as possible. Hope that helps.

 

[Ackj]

But how do you blind the ants to which treatment they are receiving?

I think they get blinded either way

But really, you should put both the normal and hot water in a thermos, so it is investigator-blinded. I'm a bit wary of the admissions criteria; each ant is not randomized, rather the whole anthill. This may lead to some genetic or regional variance and could skew the results. Also, have you looked into the possibility of heat causing expansion of organs? This could be a confounder as we would not know whether the increased amygdala was caused by pain or the heat from boiling.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

I think they get blinded either way

But really, you should put both the normal and hot water in a thermos, so it is investigator-blinded. I'm a bit wary of the admissions criteria; each ant is not randomized, rather the whole anthill. This may lead to some genetic or regional variance and could skew the results. Also, have you looked into the possibility of heat causing expansion of organs? This could be a confounder as we would not know whether the increased amygdala was caused by pain or the heat from boiling.

Very good questions... What I wonder is how do we determine if they die from the heat or from drowning? Could give artificially high positive results.

 

[StevePerry]

I have too many colonies of ants in my backyard so I plan to dig open some and pour boiling water into it to wipe out as many ants as possible. Being a healthcare professional, I care deeply about the suffering of others (even if they are not humans). Before I proceed, I want to ask all you knowledgeable folks whether you know ants can suffer from the pain of boiling water. I have done a google search, but answers vary widely. Please contribute your valuable inputs.

Just purchase a boombox and play something completely devoid of any soul/emotion by a no-talent assclown. Jack Johnson should do the trick. Ant colonies gone by album's end. A few stoned female and/or hippy ants may stick around until the CD's end in which case I would suggest to follow it up with a Slayer opus.

 

[Praziquantel86]

Just purchase a boombox and play something completely devoid of any soul/emotion by a no-talent assclown. Jack Johnson should do the trick. Ant colonies gone by album's end. A few stoned female and/or hippy ants may stick around until the CD's end in which case I would suggest to follow it up with a Slayer opus.

Sounds like antibiotic cycling to me.

 

[KainSicilian]

Very good questions... What I wonder is how do we determine if they die from the heat or from drowning? Could give artificially high positive results.

Don't think they can die of drowning from just a few pails of water. Because then rainfall would have made ants extinct before we even start killing them...

 

[xtsukiyox]

Don't think they can die of drowning from just a few pails of water. Because then rainfall would have made ants extinct before we even start killing them...

When was the last time that feet of rain fell on your house? We measure in inches around these parts, even during monsoon season.

 

[antysocial]

Can ants feel pain?

Ants perceive noxious stimuli in a very similar fashion to mammals, when damaged they produce substance P, serotonin, dopamine, and acetyl-choline which are neurotransmitters linked to pain perception in humans, and the amount of these chemicals produced can be reduced by opiates.
Conclusion: Ants feel pain.

Are ants emotionally affected by pain?

Ant behaviour is persistently affected by the experience of pain by reduced activity and feeding very similarly to a depressed person. Ants avoid further contact with the noxious stimulus after 2-3 experiences.

Severely/mortally injured ants receive care and communication from their sisters, up to and including antenna contact (analogous to hand-holding) whilst another ant stealthily provides euthanasia.
Conclusion: Ants are emotionally affected by pain.

But seriously, why would you genocide ants in your garden; they are a necessary and positive part of the ecology, aerating soil, removing biological debris that can cause harmful moulds and predating slugs, snails etc

 

[Mad Jack]

Can ants feel pain?

Ants perceive noxious stimuli in a very similar fashion to mammals, when damaged they produce substance P, serotonin, dopamine, and acetyl-choline which are neurotransmitters linked to pain perception in humans, and the amount of these chemicals produced can be reduced by opiates.
Conclusion: Ants feel pain.

Are ants emotionally affected by pain?

Ant behaviour is persistently affected by the experience of pain by reduced activity and feeding very similarly to a depressed person. Ants avoid further contact with the noxious stimulus after 2-3 experiences.

Severely/mortally injured ants receive care and communication from their sisters, up to and including antenna contact (analogous to hand-holding) whilst another ant stealthily provides euthanasia.
Conclusion: Ants are emotionally affected by pain.

But seriously, why would you genocide ants in your garden, they are a necessary and positive part of the ecology, aerating soil, removing biological debris that can cause harmful moulds and predating slugs, snails etc

Considering the fact that this post is 3 years old, it's safe to say the genocide has already happened. RIP little ant buddies.

 

[antysocial]

I know, but i wanted a definitive answer for next time someone asks...

 

[Sparda29]

 

[Dred Pirate]

Does your aunt suffer pain? punch her and see if she screems, but I am pretty sure unless she is some form of mutant alien she does suffer pain.

Oh wait, you said ant. not aunt (they sound the same where I come from)