Do Ants Sleep?
Updated: 1 day ago
Look into an ant nest at any moment and there always seem to be ants walking around. So do ants ever sleep? They do, but in a very different way than we do.
Hundreds of power naps
In 2009, researchers in Florida filmed fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) day and night. Workers did not sleep in one long block. Instead they took about 250 short naps a day, each lasting a little over a minute. Altogether that adds up to almost 5 hours of sleep per day. At any moment, about one in five workers was asleep. Fire ants are an invasive pest in the southern US. Living there? Read why we do not recommend keeping fire ants.
Queens sleep longer
Queens slept very differently. They took about 90 naps a day, each lasting around 6 minutes, for more than 9 hours of sleep in total. Queens often slept huddled together. The researchers think the long rest may help queens live much longer than workers. Read more in how old can an ant get?.
How can you tell an ant is asleep?
A sleeping ant stays still and folds its antennae in.
In deep sleep it does not react when another ant touches it.
When dozing, the antennae are partly spread and the ant reacts more quickly.
Sometimes the antennae make fast little movements during deep sleep.
Watch your own colony closely and you may see workers resting motionless in a corner of the nest, while others keep working. Do not have a colony yet? Our ant starter kit is an easy way to start.
Why a colony never sleeps
Because every ant sleeps at a different time, there are always workers awake to guard the nest, care for the brood and look for food. The colony as a whole never sleeps, even though every individual ant does.
Sources
Cassill, D.L., Brown, S., Swick, D. and Yanev, G., 2009. Polyphasic wake/sleep episodes in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Journal of Insect Behavior 22: 313 to 323.
Photo: © Jonghyun Park
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