What phenomenon occurs when ants split into separate colonies after treatment?

The phenomenon that occurs when ants split into separate colonies after treatment is known as fission. This process typically involves the division of an established colony into two or more new colonies, which can occur as a strategy for survival, reproduction, or adaptation to environmental pressures.

Fission often arises in social insects like ants, where the need to either capitalize on available resources or to escape adverse conditions can drive the splitting of a colony. This process can help ensure the continuation of the species by establishing new colonies in different areas, thereby reducing competition and resource depletion in the original location.

In contrast, budding refers to a type of asexual reproduction seen in some organisms, where a new organism grows from a part of the parent organism. Colonization generally refers to the establishment of a new colony in a previously unoccupied area, often emphasizing the initial phase of colony establishment. Swarming typically describes the phenomenon of a large number of insects leaving the parent colony to find new habitats, but it does not specifically imply the splitting of the colony into separate entities as seen in fission.