Ants stacking up their dead on Trix cereal surprised and ravish societal media users over Christmas back in 2021 . The odd incident was bring in to the tending of The Internet by user OctopusCaveman , whose son owned an ant farm .

“ My Logos put some Trix in his ant farm . or else of eat them , the ants dug up all of the deadantsin the farm and pack them on top of the Trix , ” heTweeted .   “ Not sure what that means but I ’m not eat   Trix   anymore . ”

You ’d think that ants would just corrode the sugary offering , so it was understandably baffling to   learn that they were instead digging up their dead and stack them on top of Trix ( silly ant , Trix are for kids ) . So why were they using the grain as a sugary graveyard ?

Well , there are several theory surrounding the peculiar funerary exercise of pismire that have see to it them seeminglybuild petal graveyardsarounddead beesand carry corps to dying piles . Necrophoresis is a sanitisation behavior reckon in social worm like emmet , bee , wasps , and white ant , all of which are bonk to contain away the dead body of members of their colony from the nest or hive .

Eusocial insects living in complex dependency use a variety ofpheromonesto intercommunicate messages . This can be for a walking trail , to alert other ant of danger , or even just to permit them get laid they ’ve perish and everyone else should credibly watch out out for pass away , too .

It figures , then , that they ’d be sensitive to the chemical signals of other brute , plant cloth , and sugary cereal grass . Ants have been observed putting fragrant stuff around dead insects – either as a mean value to protect a meal or to hold in their location – so it could well be that the pungent grain represent a just opportunity to hide up their ill-smelling dead .

Alternatively , it could be that the cereal itself was giving off the fetor of decease in the build of oleic acid .   Squashed   and idle ant   emit oleic dot , and as an adaptation that subside the spread of pathogen ,   necrophoresis   sees the ant meet their smelly dead and take them aside to a consecrate tomb . Some colonies even have specialized undertaker ants for the job .

So , who knows , might be deserving requesting a few Trix in yourcasketif you want some company beyond the tomb .

[ H / T : Upworthy ]