By Cara Waters
Most people don’t like ants – they invade homes and get into pantries, and sometimes they bite.
But, as entomologist Simon Hinkley says, ants and humans have a lot in common.
Simon Hinkley, collection manager, terrestrial invertebrates at Museums Victoria, prepares for the Antopia exhibition.Credit: Eugene Hyland
“We build cities; they build cities. We farm; they farm. We have divisions of labor; they have divisions of labor. We change jobs during our life; so do they,” he said.
“In terms of the social nature of an ant colony and a city like Melbourne, there’s much more similarity there than there is with a whole lot of mammals.”
Hinkley understands ants have a bad rap. But they evolved well before the dinosaurs and continue to play a key role in the ecosystem, he said.
“They’re incredibly diverse, and they’re really important in the environment. So in terms of soil aeration, their digging activities, getting water into the system, taking nutrients, whether it’s leaves or seeds, down into the soil, and helping in seed diversity, seed dispersal, and that sort of thing.”
Senior curator Dr Ken Walker is also working on the exhibition. Credit: Eugene Hyland
Hinkley, who is a collection manager for terrestrial invertebrates at Museums Victoria, is one of the experts behind a new immersive exhibition that will bring the tiny, misunderstood insects into focus at the Melbourne Museum.
The exhibition, called Antopia, uses the same “blob tracking” technology as gaming phenomenon Fortnite, enabling visitors to activate and control large-scale multimedia projections to explore the hidden habitats of ants.
“We landed on ants because they’re so ubiquitous, they’re relatable,” Antopia producer Jillian Clark said. “Everyone has an experience with ants, but also, they [ants] have this kind of complexity to how they live and how they build their worlds that no one gets to see.”
Antopia is the second immersive digital experience developed in-house by Museums Victoria that blends the physical and digital worlds.Credit: Eugene Hyland
The exhibition will include ant specimens from the museum’s collection and an immersive environment, featuring 80 audio speakers, 47 projectors and some of the biggest screens in the country outside of IMAX.
Visitors will be able to experience a simulation of an ant nest, including the queen’s chamber, and see how ants use pheromones to communicate.
Dr Ken Walker, senior curator of entomology at the museum, said the sheer number of ants on Earth – about 20 quadrillion, or 2.5 million ants per human – means they are worth a closer look.
“The main difference that occurs between human sociality and ant eusociality is that with ants, they choose a single female, the queen, as a colony and they put all of their resources in to make sure that their queen reproduces,” he said. “If it works, it’s spectacular. If it fails, the entire colony collapses.”
Hinkley said ants were often misunderstood as people’s experiences with them were usually negative. The news hasn’t been positive either: the threat of venomous fire ants – the bites of which can cause fatal anaphylactic shocks in the worst cases – across Australia made headlines this year.
But, he said: “Look at all these other things that ants do that are really important in the world.”
Tickets go on sale for Antopia on September 24 and the exhibition opens on December 14.