Researchers discover ant rivals mix venom creating first instance of naturally occurring ionic liquid
Monday, August 4, 2014 - 09:30
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org) —A large team of researchers with members from the U.S., China and France has found in studying the behavior of two types of invasive ant species in southern parts of the U.S., that ant venom is mixed when the two interact causing the creation of an ionic liquid material—the first known instance of such a material occurring naturally. In their paper published in Angewandte Chemie International, the team describes how the two species of ants interact and how the liquid material comes about.