do ants see infrared light?

[blackmold]

do ants see infrared light?

Have IR camera with short throw lens.

Bill

[TheRealAntMan]

Not sure about the infrared light but I know that they can’t see the Red end of the color spectrum. And since Red is close to the IR on the wave spectrum then I don’t think they can see IR light. Guess you’ll have to do some of your own testing. Hope that helped.

[waviddilson]

I’m currently doing some vigorous testing on this topic..
I’ve been using several indoor 2K IP cameras over the last year which I setup solely to watch my various species in their outworlds. All cameras have an auto IR function so when dark they auto-activate. For months I’ve observed their lives in IR which felt rare & exclusive, especially the nocturnal species. Never felt this was any issue & agree as IR is from the red spectrum I also believed was invisible & not an ssue. Until tonight…

Recently I made an accidental discovery by complete chance which is actually common knowledge within the Secutity/CCTV industry.. & that’s IRT (infrared transmitting) black acrylic. These black IRT sheets are specifically designed to block 100% of visible light & UV light. But not Infrared.. these completely black sheets become like crystal clear glass when viewing with an IR light/camera setup. Utter revolutionary I thought.. peering into nests never disturbing/stressing the Queens/colonies ever again… boy was I wrong..

Being naturally sceptical as I’ve already proven my Myrmecia Pyiformis Queen can easily see thru several layered red filters wrapped around her test tube & try to attack a cricket passing by approx 1 inch away which I had assumed would be non-visible, I tried researching ants/IR light in general but it appears little is actually known or contemplated in regards to this topic.. hence how I found this thread several days ago.

So now after buying many 10x10cm squares of this black IRT acrylic, & replacing a majority of old nest covers for these new assumed magical IR only pass thru covers.. I decided to conduct a test to see if there was any reaction when suddenly exposed to IR light, and so far the reaction is pretty much the same as pulling away my old nest covers & exposing them to light… expect in this instance I’m not even touching anything let alone in the same room as all I need to do is push a button within the cameras app on my phone… this was very important to me as I didn’t want to contaminate my presence anywhere near the formicarium in any way whilst I carried out the tests.. it takes a couple or few seconds but it’s very clear & evident they become agitated & a lot of movement clearly starts to happen..
I’ve waited again now till 2am for pitch blackness, had the cameras setup & all IR manually turned OFF since the night before & now being 2 miles away at my friends using them to help verify & confirm the ants do indeed react almost the moment I manually activate IR via my iPhone.

I’ve still so many more tests I want to carry out yet & would like to obtain a strength/adjustable IR light output camera if possible & try again but using as minimal IR light strength as possible to observe/ascertain if IR nest spying can be done with absolute minimal disturbance..

The species in which I’ve tested tonight and utilised the IRT black acrylic to cover their nests and in which so far nearly all have reacted to being exposed to just IR light within their nesting areas are as follows…

Camponotus Consobrinus
(A slightly delayed scatty but also eventually into a panic checking every nook & cranny of their nest but also remained entirely within the nest)

Tetraponera Rufonigra
(An instant defensive reaction charging out of & remaining around bamboo nest entrance)

Diacamma Rugosum
(A quick & swift retreating response returning to previous middle nest no.2 of 3 leaving only 1 x worker in 3rd nest exposed to IR light but evasively hid in this nest but within the IR shadows)

Harpegnathos Venator
(Quick reaction & immediately started to hide their brood deeper into their natural setup away from the glass side that the IR light was facing)

Myrmecia Pyiformis Queen Only
(Not really bothered by the IR light in the slightest… she’s just super chilled! This did surprise me as she’s my biggest ant with extremely good vision…)

So after a long night of checking, observing & testing the effects that IR light has when exposing this to a handful of my species… I can & am absolutely confident & now 100% convinced without a shadow of doubt that there is a majority of ant species which most definitely can see/sense Infrared light..

Within their nesting area this appeared & proved to be as very intrusive..
Used within their outworlds as I have been using regularly anyway, it appears completely normal.

[AntsLuxembourg]

I’m currently doing some vigorous testing on this topic..
I’ve been using several indoor 2K IP cameras over the last year which I setup solely to watch my various species in their outworlds. All cameras have an auto IR function so when dark they auto-activate. For months I’ve observed their lives in IR which felt rare & exclusive, especially the nocturnal species. Never felt this was any issue & agree as IR is from the red spectrum I also believed was invisible & not an ssue. Until tonight…

Recently I made an accidental discovery by complete chance which is actually common knowledge within the Secutity/CCTV industry.. & that’s IRT (infrared transmitting) black acrylic. These black IRT sheets are specifically designed to block 100% of visible light & UV light. But not Infrared.. these completely black sheets become like crystal clear glass when viewing with an IR light/camera setup. Utter revolutionary I thought.. peering into nests never disturbing/stressing the Queens/colonies ever again… boy was I wrong..

Being naturally sceptical as I’ve already proven my Myrmecia Pyiformis Queen can easily see thru several layered red filters wrapped around her test tube & try to attack a cricket passing by approx 1 inch away which I had assumed would be non-visible, I tried researching ants/IR light in general but it appears little is actually known or contemplated in regards to this topic.. hence how I found this thread several days ago.

So now after buying many 10x10cm squares of this black IRT acrylic, & replacing a majority of old nest covers for these new assumed magical IR only pass thru covers.. I decided to conduct a test to see if there was any reaction when suddenly exposed to IR light, and so far the reaction is pretty much the same as pulling away my old nest covers & exposing them to light… expect in this instance I’m not even touching anything let alone in the same room as all I need to do is push a button within the cameras app on my phone… this was very important to me as I didn’t want to contaminate my presence anywhere near the formicarium in any way whilst I carried out the tests.. it takes a couple or few seconds but it’s very clear & evident they become agitated & a lot of movement clearly starts to happen..
I’ve waited again now till 2am for pitch blackness, had the cameras setup & all IR manually turned OFF since the night before & now being 2 miles away at my friends using them to help verify & confirm the ants do indeed react almost the moment I manually activate IR via my iPhone.

I’ve still so many more tests I want to carry out yet & would like to obtain a strength/adjustable IR light output camera if possible & try again but using as minimal IR light strength as possible to observe/ascertain if IR nest spying can be done with absolute minimal disturbance..

The species in which I’ve tested tonight and utilised the IRT black acrylic to cover their nests and in which so far nearly all have reacted to being exposed to just IR light within their nesting areas are as follows…

Camponotus Consobrinus
(A slightly delayed scatty but also eventually into a panic checking every nook & cranny of their nest but also remained entirely within the nest)

Tetraponera Rufonigra
(An instant defensive reaction charging out of & remaining around bamboo nest entrance)

Diacamma Rugosum
(A quick & swift retreating response returning to previous middle nest no.2 of 3 leaving only 1 x worker in 3rd nest exposed to IR light but evasively hid in this nest but within the IR shadows)

Harpegnathos Venator
(Quick reaction & immediately started to hide their brood deeper into their natural setup away from the glass side that the IR light was facing)

Myrmecia Pyiformis Queen Only
(Not really bothered by the IR light in the slightest… she’s just super chilled! This did surprise me as she’s my biggest ant with extremely good vision…)

So after a long night of checking, observing & testing the effects that IR light has when exposing this to a handful of my species… I can & am absolutely confident & now 100% convinced without a shadow of doubt that there is a majority of ant species which most definitely can see/sense Infrared light..

Within their nesting area this appeared & proved to be as very intrusive..
Used within their outworlds as I have been using regularly anyway, it appears completely normal.

Thank you for sharing this very detailed discovery / experiment.
I'm curious to know if they would also react if you turn on the IRL but have it pointed elsewhere and observer them with your eyes to see if they react to something the IRL is doing.

Since light and colors are just frequencies, it could be that the ants are picking up on the frequency used by the IRL. If that is a thing of course. I'm not saything that this is the case since I am no expert in this but it's never the less something that should be observed.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

do ants see infrared light?

Have IR camera with short throw lens.

Bill

It doesn’t disturb them, but yes. I have tried this, and ants have no affect with it when foraging.