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The interesting challenge here is that ants communicate and navigate by scent.
The ant no doubt *could* detect scents while mounted on the moped, but would probably try to dismount, to get closer to the ground, *unless* the moped had its own device in front to scrape up pheromones and convey them
to the sensilla on the ant's antennae, so that the sensory experience overall would be richer on the moped than off.
If this could be achieved, the next thing would be to add a thread which could wick trail pheromones from the tarsal glands without causing discomfort, and deposit them behind.
Trail pheromones from tarsal glands
https://www.science...20sternal%20glands.
[pertinax, Sep 04 2024]
The ant sensorium
https://www.science...i/S146780391730004X
[pertinax, Sep 04 2024]
smell, in particular
https://www.orkin.c...ants/can-ants-smell
[pertinax, Sep 04 2024]
Prompted by this ..
Scooter_20Mower
Thank you, [xenzag] [pertinax, Sep 04 2024]
As you can see,
https://en.wikipedi..._%28British_coin%29
a sixpence does have an ear in the middle of the obverse, except where worn away by surfeit of sweet nothings. [pertinax, Sep 05 2024]
It's been done for rats ...
https://www.youtube.../shorts/E74r-ybeQfE
... but with four wheels, and rats have a much more similar sensorium to our own, and less miniaturization is required, so the ant moped would be more of a challenge. [pertinax, Jan 19 2025]
So, these pedals ...
https://www.youtube...watch?v=IHEYBvriv2I
... in a human, there's enough flex around the pelvis and in the core to compensate for lateral wobble. I'm not sure that would work so well with an exoskeleton. [pertinax, Sep 17 2025]
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Hardly an original idea though.... |
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The original part is that, instead of relying on imaginary anthropomorphic ants, we are adapting the moped to ants as they are. |
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"For turning on a sixpence" |
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Come over here and it's gonna be worth "minus sixpence", for sure. |
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You'd also have to figure out a way for them to do the things they use their mandibles for. |
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For moped riders who can't read good? |
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//things they use their mandibles for// |
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That would be the follow-up project, Backhoes for Ants. |
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It needs some seed capital, which they would carry away one seed at a time. |
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Just a minute here! A moped has a motor of some sort. Why would a bicycle for an ant, which has 6 legs, need a motor? They need more pedals... |
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I wonder whether, if you put an impassible moat around an island of food and ran a shuttle between shore and shore, ants could learn to use the shuttle. |
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I'm imagining fast-moving water for the moat and an underwater line tethered to each shore with a platform floating or otherwise above the water. That way there's no line across. Tunneling would also have to be defeated. |
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