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@sjmgarnier I was reading your paper on ant bridges. I'm curious if anyone has been using something like https://t.co/GRvimPFrA9 to see if there are micro-vibrations triggering this reflect in the ant's feet: https://t.co/0tM6c6nIZk
I couldn't find out if the reflex also occurs in the army ants you worked with, but I think it would explain part of when they decide to let go or become rigid. Also suggests that there might be genes that encode for grip strength being tuned by evolution.
There was a study that showed that bee seem to act as active vibration dampeners in large hives (can't find link), and also they seem to communicate that way: https://t.co/0wL0pOFCeA perhaps this is also something the ants are doing as a collective bridge building behavior.
ah, here https://t.co/Wbv8vrZz2Y I think this is the same person working with @icouzin