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Detection of magnetism in the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) using magnetic resonance imaging
T J Slowik1, B L Green, H G Thorvilson
1Department of Plant and Soil Science, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA.
Bioelectromagnetics
|January 1, 1997
Abstract:
Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) workers, queens, and alates were analyzed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the presence of natural magnetism. Images of ants showed distortion patterns similar to those of honey bees and monarch butterflies, both of which possess ferromagnetic material. The bipolar ring patterns of MRI indicated the presence in fire ants of small amounts of internal magnetic material, which may be used in orientation behaviors, as in the honey bees.