Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: October 4, 2024
Brazilian ants diversity and the local geomagnetic field: a ferromagnetic resonance study
Eliane Wajnberg1, Odivaldo Cambraia Alves, Ana Yoshi Harada
1Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, R Xavier Sigaud 150, 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. elianew@cbpf.br
Abstract:
Ants have the ability of homing and some species can migrate or move over long distances (nomadic). The presence of magnetic particles as geomagnetic sensors is the most accepted hypothesis to explain ant orientation mechanisms. The room temperature Ferromagnetic Resonance (FMR) spectra of migratory, nomadic, arboreal, trap-jaw and fire ants, applied to 11 samples are presented. The spectra were studied taking into account two components: the low field (LF) with a maximum at gmax values higher than 8 and the high field (HF) at the geff=2.1 with a linewidth of about 900 Oe. This study tests the systematization plausibility of ant magnetic material characteristics based on absorption spectra area and the ratios between the peak-to-peak amplitude spectral components (LF/HF). The HF component predominates in the spectra of the migratory and one nomadic ant, while the LF is the dominant one in the arboreal and six fire ants studied. The Solenopsis absorption spectra area, proportional to the magnetic material amount, increases as the local magnetic field intensity increases, suggesting an adaptation of these ants to the magnetic environment characteristic.
More Related Videos
11:07Isolation of Mandibular Gland Reservoir Contents from Bornean 'Exploding Ants' (Formicidae) for Volatilome Analysis by GC-MS and MetaboliteDetector
Published on: August 26, 2018
10:11Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants (Atta) in Laboratory Conditions
Published on: August 30, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Magnetic Fields
A magnetic field is defined by the force that a charged particle experiences...
Ferromagnetism
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets.
Magnetism
An individual magnetic pole cannot be isolated. No matter how small, every piece of a magnet contains a north pole and a south...
Magnetic Field Lines
Magnetic field lines follow several hard-and-fast rules:
Diamagnetic Shielding of Nuclei: Local Diamagnetic Current