Why Headhunter Ants Decorate Their Nests with Skulls of Trap-Jaw Ants

When I saw this, I immediately think about Game of Thrones and the array of heads on pikes lined up outside the wall of the Red Keep. Or perhaps something similar to the moat of heads built around the Red Queen's castle.

Maybe these were inspired by how Formica archboldi also makes a display of their enemies' heads in their nests. But why do they do this? Adrian Smith, a research biologist, who has been studying such behavior has a few speculative hypotheses.

Whatever the reasons may be, one thing is for certain. As Corrie Moreau states, "This just shows that the more you know about nature, the more questions you uncover."

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)