Bumble Bees Play. Any sign that ants do, too?

[SilkyM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh4a137OU_Y

I ran into this today and immediately thought of your channel and ants. If ant species play, perhaps they act so quickly we can't perceive what is happening. Perhaps they play in a more social way. I have seen humans dig just for the pleasure of it, walk on rather perilous places, wrestle with each other with no malice. Play can take just so many forms, way beyond what these bees are doing. What do you think?

Maybe you could set up a few experiments. I don't have the real estate to do so here, and I'm low-vision. But I'd like to see what they might enjoy doing if the size of their world is taken into account. I thought the balls offered to the bees might be a bit too large for them.

SilkyM

[Antloverhuman]

No clue
I guess this could be turned into a thread where everybody posts about a time when they saw their ants "playing" if that has ever happened

[RubyAntKeeper77]

I bet ants do play, we just don’t understand the way they do, like I see two ants exploring together. I explore with friends for fun, maybe ants do so too.

[antperson24]

I bet ants do play, we just don’t understand the way they do, like I see two ants exploring together. I explore with friends for fun, maybe ants do so too.

That is a good thought! I don't know if you could say that ants have the same emotions as humans, but maybe they realize that there is strength in numbers, so they enjoy foraging with each other!

[RespectforAnts]

This is a fascinating subject, but from a survival standpoint unless the colony has an excess of resources it doesn't seem advantageous to waste resources on pointless things. However doing something productive while the insects enjoy it might boost ?morale? or maybe experience.