Smithsonian mag errata strikes again

This time, it’s a mistake about ants about which I don’t need E.O. Wilson’s help to point out the error. A brief about Forelius ants says this:

Scientists in Brazil have observed an unusual act of selflessness. When Forelius ants retire for the night, one or more workers remain outside the colony, kicking sand to seal the entrance. If that protects those within from predators or rain, it also dooms the outside ants to die overnight of exposure. It's the first known case of "pre-emptive self-sacrifice" among insects.

As both Wilson and mathemetician-philosopher Douglas Hofstadter know, individual ants don’t have a sense of self! Ant colonies might, but that’s precisely why the story is counterfactual.

An individual Forelius ant is, in this case, like a microphage white blood cell attacking an invader. The phage “sacrifices” “itself” to kill the bacterium.

But, it doesn’t actually sacrifice itself.

So, no this instance, from what I know of entomology, is NOT the first known case of “pre-emptive self-sacrifice.”

Reason No. 924 not to renew my subscription. (And, the mag hasn’t corrected some previous errata I have pointed out.)