se, immobilize or even kill their rivals. The soldiers of many species readily assume a kamikaze role in order to “win skirmishes” between rival colonies. One of the most dramatic of these sacrifices is exhibited by a carpenter ant from SE Asia. These ants act as walking bombs. There is a huge internal gland that occupies much of their body that is filled with toxic chemicals. If one of these ants is hard pressed by a rival ant or predator it contract some large abdominal muscles that bursts open the abdomen violently (like a bomb) releasing the chemicals.
The availability or more significantly the limited availability of food frequently is important in colony survival. As a consequence rival colonies frequently develop strategies to maximize their collection of available food. There is a tiny fast moving ant in the deserts of Arizona that utilizes toxic secretions to intimidate and confuse much large honey ants (10 time their size) as they steal food from the larger ant colonies. In addition these tiny ants will frequently prevent honey ants from leaving their nests by releasing toxic chemical down the hole or nest entrance thus driving the former below ground. This of course allows the smaller species to forage without competition from the honey ants. Another form of nest entrance blocking is exhibited by a small ant species in the southwestern deserts. In this case they gather in mass around the nest entrance of their rivals and similarly release toxic chemicals down the entrance. However in addition they pick up pebbles, twigs and other small objects and drop them down the vertical shaft entrance.
Possibly the most elaborate of all documented aggressive strategies in social insects occurs in battles between the tiny woodland ant and the imported fire ant. The fire ants are deadly enemies of the woodland ants with colonies 100 times larger than their tiny rivals. Even though fire ants are much more powerful than the woodland ants both successfully survive in the same area. The secret of woodland ant survival e