Ancient 'smell of death' revealed

Thats some pretty interesting stuff.

"A search of the literature turned up a very old article by famous sociologist and ecologist E. O. Wilson," says Prof Rollo. "Wilson found that ants removed the dead from their nest and dumped them in a cemetery. Moreover, he identified the active signal as oleic acid." I wonder how confused they would all be if you sprayed a whole colony. would it kill them off ?

I wonder how confused they would all be if you sprayed a whole colony. would it kill them off ? The oleic acid doesn't actually kill the ant. It only causes the other ants to drag it to their cemetary. Since ants don't build coffins (as far as we know), the dragged off ants would simply make their way back to the colony I guess. Of course, if they don't take a shower first, the other ants will just drag them off again. Maybe if you sprayed them all, they would take turns taking each other to the cemetary?

Can't it just simply be a random bi-product of death instead of having a purpose? They said it's just the blending of fatty acids.

Any person used to the out of door's would say they over complicated a simple part of life. Every thing has bacteria living in it and at the time of death the bacteria start eating, or breaking down the body. And yes it smells. But the smell also alerts scavenger's to the body for a free lunch. And most animals keep their living area clean, including removing the dead and going potty else ware. Only Domestic animals crowded in to a small space and Teenagers foul their own living area!