"The Sun Never Sets on the Ant Empire" Topic

"The world has seen many wars stemming from the desire for world domination. We have fought countless battles in an attempt to take over new lands and commandeer new resources. History books have been written discussing the battle tactics used, the strategies that worked well, ill-fated decisions, and the psychology behind the most prominent military leaders; however, the longest, largest, and most successful battle for hegemony has gone virtually unnoticed, even as it continues today. This exhaustive war has resulted in the colonization of entire continents and the complete annihilation of endemic populations. On its most active front alone, it generates 30 million casualties every year. The conflict has been occurring since the 1800s, and it has now resulted in one entity dominating every land mass in the world except for Antarctica, yet we only just recently noticed.

This is probably because the average militant is a mere 3 millimeters tall. In the largest war ever fought in the animal kingdom in the entire history of life on Earth, the Argentine ant species Linepithema humile has quickly and quietly taken over the entire world, wiping out all other ant species in its path.

Ants have an inherently militant nature, and they share a powerful natural drive to protect their colony. There are essentially two types of ants in a colony: the queen and the worker ants. The queen's sole function is to reproduce and maintain the population of worker ants. The worker ants are responsible for collecting food, growing the physical environment of the colony, and protecting the queen as well as their overall territory. The insect world is brutal; since rival populations can quickly smother each other, competition for space and resources is fierce. This competition has favored the evolution of very effective attack behaviors in ants. Any ant from a foreign colony, even if it is from the same species, will be immediately recognized as a foreign invader, and will be targeted for elimination…"
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Armand

Nature's Panzers

(smile)

Armand

Long ago read somewhere the world's ant population out weighs the human

Glup!…

Armand