Draw a Sharpie Circle Around an Ant

Summary

Biological science, chemical science, chemical signals, entomology, repellents

Teisha Rowland, PhD, Scientific discipline Buddies

Introduction

Have yous ever had ants ruin your picnic? Commercial ant repellents tin can keep them away, but who wants to spray toxicant near their food? In this action, you can investigate the effectiveness of some less toxic solutions that yous may have around your home. Armed with your discoveries, y'all may be able to keep your next picnic from turning into an ant buffet!

This activity is non recommended for use as a science off-white project. Good scientific discipline off-white projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking authentic measurements, and analyzing data. To find a scientific discipline fair projection that is merely right for y'all, scan our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or employ the Topic Option Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.

Background

All animals sense chemical signals in their environments. Some animals use these signals to communicate. One animate being famous for chemic communication is the ant. When you see a line of ants, it is because they are following an invisible chemical trail. This type of chemical signal is positive—information technology is chosen an attractant because it is meant to attract others. But signals can also be negative, warning other ants to stay away. This blazon of signal is called a repellent.

Sometimes repellents tin can come in handy. Nosotros don't like ants to become into our homes, so if nosotros use a negative chemic signal effectually their foundations, the signal will tell the ants to keep out. Chemical companies will sometimes try to copy a negative indicate to sell as an insect repellent. Simply sometimes these chemicals can have side effects or be poisonous to pets or small children. Luckily, there may be less toxic remedies around your home.

Materials

• Q-tips
• Pocket-sized cups or bottle caps
• Big, vinyl tablecloth
• A location exterior where there are plenty of ants itch around
• Water
• Saccharide
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Detergent (dish soap, laundry detergent, hand soap, etcetera)
• Tabasco sauce
• Lemon juice (or other citrus juice)
• Commercial ant repellent, if you desire to compare its effectiveness
• Whatever other solution yous would like to examination!
• Watch or stopwatch (optional)

Preparation

1. In a small cup or bottle cap, make a saturated solution by dissolving some blistering soda into water. Keep adding and mixing baking soda until no more than volition dissolve.

2. In a small loving cup or bottle cap, brand sugar water by dissolving saccharide in water until no more sugar volition dissolve.

3. If yous use a commercial pismire repellent, you should have adult permission and supervision.

4. Separately make up additional pocket-sized cups or bottle caps of the solutions you will exist testing: Water, vinegar, detergent, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice and, if you choose to test it, commercial ant repellent.

Instructions

1. Lay out your vinyl tablecloth on the ground in an area of heavy ant activity. Await awhile for the ants to walk on the tablecloth. (Be careful when working with ants—some tin sting and seize with teeth!)

2. Tip: If not many ants are walking on the tablecloth, you could attempt putting a small-scale piece of fruit near them, such every bit an apple slice, wait until the ants cover it, and so carefully shake them off onto the tablecloth. If information technology is very hot outside, yous may need to expect until later in the day when it cools down for ants to come up out of their holes.

3. Next to the tablecloth have gear up the solutions you will test: saturated blistering soda solution, carbohydrate water, water, vinegar, detergent, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice and, if you want, chemical ant repellent.

4. Test a solution on an ant by dipping a Q-tip into the solution and drawing a circumvolve around the insect, most 2.five centimeters in diameter. Did the pismire stay within the circumvolve or leave it? Was there annihilation else you observed about the pismire's behavior?

5. In this way, test solutions on the ants until you accept tested at to the lowest degree five ants with each substance.

6. Which solutions usually kept ants inside the circle? From which did the ants readily walk out? Potential repellents will exist solutions that clearly trap the ants inside a circle.

7. Were there circles in which the ants spent time standing, neither quickly leaving nor actualization trapped?

Extra: Once you discover some potential repellents, yous tin effigy out which ones work best. Try this activity over again, merely now time how long the ant remains trapped in the circle. Which repellents repel the ants for the longest corporeality of fourth dimension?

Actress: You lot can likewise fourth dimension how long the ant stays trapped in the circumvolve to experiment with unlike concentrations of repellents. How diluted tin can your solutions be and even so act every bit effective ant repellents?

Extra: Try a similar activeness to this one only merely test dry or powdered substances. Yous won't need a tablecloth for this; rather for a hard, dry substance like chalk you can draw the circle on a sidewalk. For a pulverization, like blistering soda, sugar or salt, just sprinkle it in a circumvolve effectually the pismire. Can you find some powdered or solid substances that work equally pismire repellents?

Observations and Results

Did some solutions keep the ants trapped in the circle, whereas the ants apace walked over circles made of other solutions? Did the baking soda, detergent and Tabasco sauce conspicuously repel the ants, although the water did non?

Ants rely on chemical signals to navigate toward food, their nest and other places, and we tin can utilise negative signals, or repellents, to discourage ants from going somewhere. Blistering soda; vinegar; lemon juice; some detergents (and cleaning products); Tabasco sauce (and other spicy substances, such every bit red chili pepper, black pepper and cayenne pepper) usually repel ants to varying degrees, and yous may have seen them trapped in these circles. Many other common household solutions can also repel ants, including cinnamon, mint, salt, cloves, garlic, onions and bay leaves. Many ants are attracted to sugar, so y'all may have seen ants end and spend some time on the circumvolve made upwards of the sugar h2o—they may have been enjoying a snack! The ants should have quickly crossed the circles made of water, but if thick lines were fabricated using the water or other solutions—or if the ants were thirsty—this could cause them to hesitate earlier exiting the circles.

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Cleanup

1. When you are done with this activity, let the ants render to where you plant them. Wash off the vinyl tablecloth and be conscientious and thorough if you chose to utilize commercial emmet repellent.

Additional Resources

Integrated Pest Management Manual from the National Park Service
Nontoxic Ant Command from The All-time Command 2: Encyclopedia of Integrated Pest Management
Drawing Circles around Ants from Scientific discipline Buddies

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Source: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/drawing-circles-around-ants