Paint marking using CO anaesthetization does not affect exploratory and recruitment behaviours in the rock ant, Temnothorax rugatulus.

The study of animal behaviour sometimes requires unique identification of individuals, especially in the study of social behaviours involving the interactions of multiple individuals. To this end, researchers have developed many different methods of marking individuals. For small animals like insects, paint marks are often applied to their bodies by anaesthetizing them using low temperature or carbon dioxide Despite this procedure being ubiquitous when studying social insects, the effect of paint and anaesthetics on their behaviour has not been well investigated, especially their effect on performance during a collective task.