78. Allah's Scientific Miracles In The Quran: Ant Communication

Ants are small animals with complex communication networks to organise their social lives. They use a variety of methods to communicate, such as alarm, recruitment, grooming and exchange of oral and anal liquid, with 500,000 nerve cells squeezed into their 2-3 mm bodies. Most communication is on the chemical level, using semiochemicals known as pheromones which are secreted by internal glands. These pheromones are emitted according to the needs of the colony, and their intensity varies according to the urgency of the situation. Thus, ants rely heavily on chemical communication in order to organise their social lives. The scientific miracle of the Qur'an in regards to ants is that it accurately described the complex communication network of ants and their use of semiochemicals, or pheromones, to organize their societies 1,400 years ago, when there was no such knowledge about ants. Note: 172. National Geographic 165, no. 6, 777. 173. Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, The Ants (Cambridge: Harvard University Press: 1990),227. 174. Ibid., 244.