Originally Posted by Trumble

I suppose it depends how you use the word. If ants 'speak' (and it makes no difference at all whether that is chemical or aural in this context) then so do most other animals I can think of. In which case what is supposed to be so remarkable here? Nobody claims that Aesop's fables "agree with modern science" because they contain talking animals!

To speak is a special case of communicating, not a synonym for any form of it. It implies the specific communication of thoughts using a language. In turn, a language in this context is rather more than a repertoire of different noises which generate pre-programmed responses. The essential point, though, is that about complex concepts. Nobody would dispute that ants communicate, they clearly do. What they do not do is communicate complex concepts in the way people do as they cannot think to formulate such concepts.