Posted on 11/12/2015 9:23:03 AM PST by JimSEA
Ants may respond to disturbances in their nest as one highly organized 'superorganism', according to a study published November 11, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Thomas O'Shea-Wheller from the University of Bristol, England, and colleagues. Ant colonies are incredibly complex, and at the same time, intensely cooperative, which is why they are often referred to as single 'superorganisms.' The authors of this study, interested in the extent to which ants behave as a single entity, simulated different predator attacks on 30 migrating ant colonies. To observe the ants' responses to predation at different locations in and near the nest, they removed ant scouting at the colony periphery, and then separately, removed workers from the center of the nest. When scouts were removed from the periphery, the foraging 'arms' of the colony retracted back into the nest. However, when ants were removed from within the center of the nest itself, the whole colony fled, seeking asylum in a new location. While the first of these scenarios could be seen as akin to burning your hand on a stove, the second is more of a 'house on fire' scare. The authors suggest their results may draw parallels with the nervous systems of single organisms, in that they allow appropriate and location-dependent responses to damage, and suggest that, just as organisms may respond to cell damage via pain, ant colonies respond to loss of workers via group awareness.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
As opposed to humans, who get really stupid in large groups.
I’m not going to post what I THOUGHT the headline said.
Anyone who has ever run afoul of a fire ant hill knows this.
"They're extinct, of course, but that's no reason not to admire them."
...insert pic of ants smoking cigs
Everytime I hear about fire ants, an old movie pops in my head - “The Naked Jungle” with Charleton Heston.
They weren’t fire ants, they were Matabele army ants. But there was a whole LOT of them.
I remember seeing it on TV as a kid, and it freaked me out.
Here’s a clip from it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKqninskg74
Not extinct, but they prey five times a day. And, its interesting watching them weave their prayer rugs.
Speaking of a fire ant mound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAFOS4UBgTw
This guy does it intentionally and it proves your point.
No thanks, I saw that movie as a kid and I've been forever traumatized by it.......
When I first arrived in Panama in the Army, I was stationed on a real small island on the Pacific side of the Canal.
One day while exploring the perimeter of the Island, I came across a colony of Leaf Cutter ants on the move. Let me tell you, it's one thing to see them on the National Geographic channel but when you encounter them in person, it will creep you out! I couldn't get out of there fast enough........LOL!
It freaked me out too. I was probably 8 or 9 when I saw it.
Never looked at the little buggers the same way after that.
Of course, growing up in North Philly, we didn’t have army ants. Just the little red buggers.
Carpenter ants are the big nuisance where I live now. Had an old silver maple FULL of them, that I had to cut down. They were coming into the house.
They bite too, but probably nothing like fire ants.
Later
Toboga?
I remember the leaf-cutters as well. Lived at Albrook AFB.
We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Like a group of people responding to racism on college campii
Were they found anywhere other than in the USA?
What was that TV show where there were ants attacking that came from a space ship? Probably outer-limits.
THAT ONE freaked me out.
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