Ants and Us

Lately, I’ve noticed a colony of black ants amassing at the bottom of the door frame in our basement CR (Well, that is what I usually notice when I take my time at the toilet). What is peculiar about it is the presence of the colony’s mass of larvae in different stages of development. They practically made that part of the door frame their nursery chamber. I’m no ant expert but this scene has a great amount of insight I could extract and yes, it is surprising that even in moments of sitting on the throne, the boringness would lead me to explore the minute details of my immediate vicinity and behold the story of the black ants.

You might have noticed this before where ants carry white stuff and clump together in an exposed humid area.

Common to our childhood memories might be our insistent desire to play in the yard, get bitten by red ants and our retaliation – their Armageddon. Far from the hated red ants, the black ants I observed in this particular corner have a very interesting order. One ant carries one larva. It is as if each one, by natural instinct, is responsible for the safety and care of their assigned larva. 

Out of curiosity, I gently blew a breath over them and alas, they frantically ran off in chaos much like us during and after the recent quake. However their chaos was an ordered one. It was a frantic orderly exit. What is amazing is the priority they fashioned - they all prioritized their larvae. All those who bear a baby ant were the first to leave. I even noticed that even the heavier almost fully developed larva had to be carried off by a group of ants. They all came out in ordered fashion. And 2 minutes later, all the white stuff where gone just because of that sudden change of air pressure I caused. What remained are those frightened ants that carried nothing. All the larvae are now safe inside the colony.

In the silence of the CR, it dawned on me how this simple observation is so reflective of our own. Though we all know that they are all sisters equal before one mother queen, these blind social insects know their individual and specialized role. Once given the responsibility to nurture a larva, they make sure that it is first to be secured for they know that what they bare is the future of their colony and of their kind.

So us Filipinos, social as we are, the recognition of our innate responsibilities to the nation is paramount to our rise and survival. It is not that we take shelter with our responsibilities when disturbances come but we know the manner in which we execute our role not just during times of crisis but even in moments of still waters. Much more, just like the ants that move in mass with a clear direction, let us also do the same. These invertebrates know that. We have so much to learn from these blind ants, and I hope that in this critical moment of our nation’s history – political and economic, we embrace the responsibility, the larvae so to speak, bestowed on us by ourselves or someone higher with resolve and dedication. And when a blow of chaos and uncertainty descends on us, let us move and carry the hope of the future to safety.