| Pictors Studio | 23 Mar 2009 11:13 a.m. PST |
I've always been mildly interested in reading about ants. They seem to be pretty good models for bug societies, especially if the bugs have a hive mind or some such thing. Ants don't have a hive mind, as far as I know but they behave with colonial efficiency in a lot of ways. Here is one: link |
| Pictors Studio | 23 Mar 2009 11:14 a.m. PST |
And of course I can't seem to cross post this to the sci-fi boards where it would also be useful. |
| UltraOrk | 23 Mar 2009 11:59 a.m. PST |
Interesting ant behavior observed:
Recently I had ants in my kitchen. They were coming in near the sink and so I went out and got a liquid and killer called Terro. You take a piece of card (part of the box) and lay it down on their trail and them place a drop of the liquid on the card. The ants following the trail come upon the liquid, drink their fill, go back and tell their buddies and then die.
The interesting behavior was that at this particular time (early evening) there were only a couple, maybe four or five ants visible on the counter. I set up the Terro per instructions and watched what happened. After about a minute one of them climbed up on the card and started drinking. Immediately, three of the others that were at least 5 or more inches away in different directions, immediately turned and headed straight toward the stuff. |
| Cyrus the Great | 23 Mar 2009 1:56 p.m. PST |
And of course I can't seem to cross post this to the sci-fi boards where it would also be useful.
"Ant traffic" is posted on the Plus Boards. The sci-fi boards are on the Message Boards. You can't cross post between the two separate boards. |
| Neotacha | 23 Mar 2009 3:47 p.m. PST |
So you post it twice, annoying the folks who have both boards turned on, and boost your post count as well. |
| StarfuryXL5 | 23 Mar 2009 4:15 p.m. PST |
If I steal watches and keep a tally of them here, then I suppose I post my boost count. |
| Streitax | 23 Mar 2009 4:58 p.m. PST |
Bartender, a glass of Terro for Starfury. |
| StarfuryXL5 | 23 Mar 2009 5:05 p.m. PST |
With a formic acid chaser, please. |
| Whatisitgood4atwork | 23 Mar 2009 8:28 p.m. PST |
Ant behaviour is indeed fascinating. My most interesting snippet is that young colonies behave differently from old ones, showing more aggression for instance. Even though the size of the colonies may be the same, and the age of the individuals in the colony is the same as in the younger colony. |
| Boone Doggle | 24 Mar 2009 6:11 p.m. PST |
A favourite book from childhood was about a farmer in Africa? who defended his home against army ants. Petrol bombs, fire moats, man portable petrol sprays, it was a little war. Anybody know the title?
I'm sure my sons will like it as well. |
| Boone Doggle | 24 Mar 2009 6:17 p.m. PST |
When I was a kid my house was infested with 2 types of ants. A mean tiny red ant with much larger and jawed soldiers. And a larger less aggressive black. I watched out for when their ant trails were close to each other. Then it was ANT WARS time. I would lay a little trail of sugar water between their trials. It was fascinating how quickly they found each other and called up reinforcements resulting in some huge battles. The red ants always won in the end. |
