Ant Communication

In the Quran, Solomon overhears a "conversation of ants." Some people argue that, regardless of whether Solomon's supernatural ability is genuine or not, it's impossible for ants to "talk" based on our knowledge about the mode and complexity of ant communication, which is mostly expressed through stridulation (i.e., producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts). The verse in question is this:

Till, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant exclaimed: "O ants! Enter your dwellings lest Solomon and his armies crush you, unperceiving." And (Solomon) smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: "My Lord, arouse me to be thankful for Thy favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good that shall be pleasing unto Thee, and include me in (the number of) Thy righteous slaves."

27:18-19

To reply to this objection, we need to analyze the verse furthermore; here we have the word Naml (نمل) in the original Arabic text, which is a word for "ants" as well as "termites" (they're basically the same). Ants are usually called in Arabic an-Naml al-Abyad (النمل الأبيض), meaning "the white ants." Termites are specifically known to communicate by sound; their acoustic communication has been thoroughly researched and documented in many studies and scientific articles, such as Analysis of Acoustic Communication by Ants, Shhh, the Ants Are Talking, and The Bioacoustics of Ants.

Now we'll take it a step further; Muslim scholars have stated that due to the verses preceding 27:18-19, it can be strongly adduced that these are winged ants or winged termites:

Solomon was heir to David, and he said: "O people, we have been taught the language of Tayr, and have been given of everything. This is a clear favor indeed."

27:16

The word Tayr (طير) implies winged creatures that have the ability to fly. This word stems from the verb Yatīr (يطير), which literally means "to fly." The words Tā'ir (طائر) and Tā'irah (طائرة), meaning "bird" and "airplane," also derive from the same root in the Arabic language.

Those Naml had wings, thus they were categorized as Tayr. I use the word Naml (or Namlah (نملة)) instead of "ants" (or "ant") and Tayr instead of "birds" since the English translations have failed to capture these linguistic nuances which must be explained:

That Namlah had two wings, becoming one of the Tayr, thus he knew her speech, and without that he wouldn't have known it.

Tafsir al-Qurtubi (27:18)

It is well known that termites communicate by sound and this doesn't require any posting of a research paper. What's interesting to note is that wings in ants is a sign of unmated males and females, as they are called "winged reproductive" or "swarmer." This is because they leave their mounds en masse to mate. Hence, the verse mentions that these ants aren't in their mounds but out in the open. This verse uses the feminine verb Qālat (قالت), meaning "(she) said," regarding the ant that warned the others. Thus, it was perhaps a winged, unmated queen, which is pretty conclusive, as this Namlah was the one who publicly warned others.