Ants Who Live with Company

Job 37:14
“Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.”

Cooperation between two different species who depend upon each other for survival is known as symbiosis. This is remarkable enough, but what about cooperation between two different species who don’t depend upon each other for survival? This certainly defies that foundational pillar for the theory of evolution – the survival of the fittest.

Examples of these types of cooperation, found abundantly in nature, have caused a growing number of scientists to listen to arguments for intelligent design – and even abandon mindless evolution altogether. Our example today concerns two very different ant species that live in British Guiana. One species, a large brown ant, lives together with a small black ant. They actually breed and live separately, but in times of danger, they work together as a well trained army.

At first threat to the anthill, the smaller black ants begin the defense. However, if the black ants cannot hold the intruder, the larger, stronger brown ants join in the defense of the hill. Neither ant needs the other, but together each offers the other some benefit. This is called altruism.

One cannot picture ants sitting around a table to work out this arrangement – they must have been created for this kind of relationship by a good and wise Creator. His plan to help these ants, amazing as it is, is nothing compared to His plan of salvation for us through the forgiveness of sins that is in Christ Jesus!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I thank You that Your greatest work is Your plan of salvation, restoring us undeserving sinners to Yourself thorough the forgiveness of sins earned by Christ on the cross. I ask that Your plan of salvation would always be central in all my thoughts, despite the distractions of the world. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Plaster cast of an anthill. Courtesy of Shaners Becker. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.