evidence: Are red ants and black ants peaceful if placed in the same enclosure, but start fighting when an outside force shakes them? No, that's not true: There are thousands of species of red ants and black ants, not just one per color. There is no set rule as to when ants will fight versus not fight. Two professors knowledgeable about ants told us that no shaking is necessary to start a fight between two different species of ants. [...] If you put 100 black ants & 100 red ants in a jar, nothing will happen.But if you shake the jar,the ants will start killing each other. Red will believe black is their enemy while black will believe red is their enemy when the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. Same is also true in our society. Before we fight with each other, we must ask ourselves: who shook the jar?? [...] The picture shows Oecophylla, a notorious territorial ant in Africa and Asia, attacking some other ant. They'll attack anything. There are thousands of species of "red" ants and thousands of species of "black" ants. Some ants dont fight no matter what. Some ants will hang out in a jar for a while, but if you shake them they release formic acid, which makes them all go crazy, attacking anything, including nest mates. Because it is a general alarm signal.