Final answer:
Carpenter ants are responsible for leaving sawdust-like wood shavings with dead insect parts. Their behavior is part of a complex ecosystem that includes interactions like fungus farming and aphid herding, all of which are subject to scientific hypotheses and observations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ants that leave piles of sawdust-like wood shavings containing body parts of dead insects are Carpenter ants (Answer A). These ants are known for excavating wood to create their nests, which results in the sawdust-like debris, also referred to as frass. The debris can contain non-wood items, such as dead insects, which the ants have come across and included within their discard pile.
Observing ant behavior and the resulting evidence of their activity, such as the sawdust-like piles left by carpenter ants, can lead to the formulation of testable hypotheses regarding other aspects of ant behavior. For example, hypothesizing why worker ants gather in a specific area of the lawn - perhaps due to food presence, suitable nesting conditions, or social behaviors - invites observation and experimentation to confirm the reasons behind the gathering.
Ants exhibit a remarkable array of interactions with their environment, from cultivating fungus gardens using plant material or insect matter as a substrate to herding aphids for honeydew. These various interactions, whether for feeding, farming, or protection, illustrate the complex biotic relationships that ants have evolved with other species and their ecosystem.