Ant Mega-Colony Covers the World 359
Deag writes "A mega colony of one family of ants has spread all over the world. Previous mega colonies in California, Europe and Japan have been shown to be in fact one global colony.
Ants from the smaller super-colonies were always aggressive to one another. So ants from the west coast of Japan fought their rivals from Kobe, while ants from the European super-colony didn't get on with those from the Iberian colony.
But whenever ants from the main European and Californian super-colonies and those from the largest colony in Japan came into contact, they acted as if they were old friends."
boric acid plus sugar water (Score:4, Informative)
In the case of Argentine ants, boric acid powder (cheap at the hw store) plus syrup has worked fairly well for me.
Sometimes they want fat instead of sugar, use peanut butter instead of syrup. Don't overdo the boric acid or they won't bite.
Just goog for recipes.
But apparently they can't even use telephones! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Informative)
There's one that always works for me:
boiling water, a whole pot, straight down the hole
Re:Obligatory quote (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Obligatory quote (Score:5, Informative)
That episode was a total rip-off/tribute/remake of the short story Leningen versus the Ants by Carl Stephenson.
This story was in my elementary school reading book the same year that episode originally aired.
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lvta.html [classicshorts.com]
Re:Genetic drift (Score:5, Informative)
The ant is what happens when a species finds a niche and becomes so exquisitely adapted to it that further evolution is almost always detrimental. For a short time genetic change remains advantageous so long as it results in less genetic change. So you get the whole "single queen" reproductive model. The fact that ants have not completely lost their ability to sexually reproduce indicates that some advantage is still to be gained by it, but its most likely more about passing on antibodies than it is genes.
Re:I'm pretty sure... (Score:5, Informative)
It was about 55 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them! [wikipedia.org] My kids loved it...
Re:There was a book about this (Score:3, Informative)
City [wikipedia.org]
On Amazon [amazon.com]
Audio Book [mininova.org]
Re:I'm pretty sure... (Score:3, Informative)
On a related note, if you haven't read Charles Stross' award-winning 2007 novella "Missile Gap", read it now. [subterraneanpress.com]
Ants secretly control our world . . . (Score:1, Informative)
... at least according to Fredric Brown's Sci-Fi short story, "Come and Go Mad". This story is about a man, "Nappy", living in modern times. He once believed he was Napoleon, but has been cured of this belief when the story starts. Through a series of eerie events we discover he really is Napoleon. He has been body-swapped by red and black ants who have secretly controled all of human activity and are the true rulers of our world.
Re:Genetic drift (Score:3, Informative)
I'm back. Whew! Plundering the depths of the internet is exhausting. I didn't manage to learn much about ant colony differentiation, but I did learn that: 1. A leaf-cutter ant queen mates only once - just before establishing a new colony. She can then keep the sperm viable for up to 15 years and produce as many as 300 million offspring (Wow!). 2. The study of ants is called Myrmecology. 3. In heraldry the two-tailed mermaid is shown full face with the ends of her tails held in each hand. Both single-tailed and double-tailed varieties symbolize eloquence. If she has her comb and mirror with her then it means vanity. 4. You can buy cheap bathroom vanities from some site called vanities.pronto.com. 5. If you mispell "pronto" while googling with safesearch turned off, the results are um... interesting. 6. Adult chat tends to focus on certain subjects. And "LilMissHotty69" is actually a guy from Peoria, IL named Bob who is into fishing and fixing up GTOs. Who knew? Maybe plundering the depths of the internet is not the best way to learn about an esoteric subject when hopped up on caffeine.
Stop SHILLING for Bing.com
Re:Genetic drift (Score:3, Informative)
They call it one super colony because closely related ants move freely between the smaller colonies, but each queen is genetically distinct. Genetic drift should affect them the same as any other species of ant.
Yes you can (Score:4, Informative)
You can kill all the ants in a few ways
a) Follow them back to find the colony. Boil 4-8 gallons of water i a big stock pot, kick the top off of the ant hill, and dump it down. The boiling water will rapidly travel along all of the tunnels and it should reach the queen, taking out the whole colony at once.
b) Bait the places where they enter your house with a liquid borax/sugar mixture. These ant mixtures are available at any store. The ants take the food and bing it back to the colony, where they all eat it - and the borax eventually kills all of them.
Re:Obligatory quote (Score:5, Informative)
"Is it Duct or Duck? We donâ(TM)t want you to be confused, so we will explain. The first name for Duct Tape was DUCK. During World War II the U.S. Military needed a waterproof tape to keep the moisture out of ammunition cases. So, they enlisted the Johnson and Johnson Permacel Division to manufacture the tape. Because it was waterproof, everyone referred to it as âoeduckâ tape (like water off a duckâ(TM)s back). Military personnel discovered that the tape was good for lots more than keeping out water. They used it for Jeep repair, fixing stuff on their guns, strapping equipment to their clothing... the list is endless.
After the War, the housing industry was booming and someone discovered that the tape was great for joining the heating and air conditioning duct work. So, the color was changed from army green to the silvery color we are familiar with today and people started to refer to it as âoeduct tape*.â Therefore, either name is appropriate."
Full page [ducttapeguys.com]
Another Source [ideafinder.com]
"The original use was to keep moisture out of the ammunition cases. Because it was waterproof, people referred to the tape as "Duck Tape." Also, the tape was made using cotton duck - similar to what was used in their cloth medical tapes. Military personnel quickly discovered that the tape was very versatile and used it to fix their guns, jeeps, aircraft, etc. After the war, the tape was used in the booming housing industry to connect heating and air conditioning duct work together.
Soon, the color was changed from Army green to silver to match the ductwork and people started to refer to duck tape as "Duct Tape." Things changed during the 1970s, when the partners at Manco, Inc. placed rolls of duct tape in shrink wrap, making it easier for retailers to stack the sticky rolls. Different grades and colors of duct tape werenÂt far behind. Soon, duct tape became the most versatile tool in the household. "
Re:Obligatory quote (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Pest_control [wikipedia.org]
Re:Obligatory quote (Score:2, Informative)
You get enough (coconut.weight / (ant.weight * )(50 + ant_comfort_factor) ), and I'd imagine yes, ants can carry coconuts.
The only real issues are where they'd grip it, and how to evenly balance the load.
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Informative)
You need to add runners and risers to the nest before pouring. The runners will feed the metal into the correct holes and the risers will store heat allowing the metal to flow without freezing too quickly. You also have to remember that the metal will freeze quicker on the outside of the tubes, leaving the middle potions free to flow. High yields aren't an option with too many runners though - it's a Fettler's nightmare too.
Yay! 4 years training, and 4 years practicing, just to explain this on Slashdot!