Panic
What you see here is a bit of panic in the ant nursery. Whilst wandering through the woods one afternoon, I turned over a rock and really ruined the day for some red ants. The rock must have served as the roof for an upper chamber of the hive (hive?), and when the roof came off, panic ensued.
This little cavity was filled with more than a dozen white larvae, and just as fast as they could, the red ants packed the white larvae down black tunnel you can see on your right. By the time I’d brought my camera to bear on the scene, most of the larvae were already spirited off to relative safety. It occurred to me then that this protein-rich booty might explain the mystery rocks I sometimes come across in the forest, random rocks resting upon last season’s fallen leaves — how did they get there? If a strong-armed critter, such as a raccoon or opposum (or even an armadillo) knew from experience, or from having been taught by momma, that overturned rocks can sometimes yield a bounty of ant larvae, said critter might wander the forest floor, giving every rock an attempt at overturning on the chance that a reward awaited.
Somewhere along the line I had heard that the total ant biomass — the total corporeal substance of all of the ants in the world — exceeded the total biomass of us talking mammals (a.k.a. humans). It was one of those factoids I was always skeptical of. I assumed someone had misplaced a decimal point in the calculations. It seemed like the kind of awe-inspiring idea that credulous people would readily pass along but few would bother to verify.
And so, rather than pass along a dubious factoid to you, I have taken the trouble to look up the facts. And it seems that this is true. The volume of all of the ants exceeds the volume of all of the talking mammals. Or at least so it is postulated by Edward O. Wilson, the famed biologist and ant expert. (Or, if this isn’t sufficient evidence for you, you might visit Tjilpi’s blog today for more discussion of the subject.)
Thus you can turn to Roundrock Journal for your interesting party conversation as well as whatever else it is that draws you here. No extra charge.
Housekeeping Note: Several of you have reported that you are unable to leave comments. I haven’t been able to figure out what has caused this or why the problem has simply gone away for some. I suspect it is my Akismet comment spam filter, though I haven’t confirmed that. So I apologize to all of you and ask you to keep trying. At least if I’ve written something that is worthy of your thoughtful commentary that is.
Missouri calendar:
- Earth farthest from sun (aphelion, about 94 million miles).
July 3rd, 2006 at 5:22 am
Well. I guess that bit of trivia accounts for the ‘ants at a picnic’ bit. Thanks…I think.
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:23 am
We really enjoy our ants here at Edge of the Earth Rd. Carpenter ants are a staple of life here. When we first arrived eight years ago, there was a very large red ant bed we watched attentively as to what food was being taken, what actions by individuals and groups were being taken, and such.
A friend had given me an elk head from an elk his son had shot and I was looking forward to putting it in the ant bed for cleaning. Alas, three years ago the red ants disappeared. Almost overnight the bed was gone.
Now we have a plethora of mound ants, which we also enjoy, and with them and equal plethora of ant lion traps all over the property. Ah. let the games begin!
I’m for the ants!
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:28 am
This post has led me to a transcript from a 1997 PBS Nova program in which Edward Wilson discusses many aspects of ant populations. It is a fascinating read, and can be found via this link:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2203crea.html
Thanks for the introduction to Mr. Wilson.
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:30 am
Is it coinkydink that I was turning over logs and photographing termites yesterday? I think not.
I hope MO is free of the evil fire ant.
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:41 am
FC – As far as I know, Missouri is not afflicted with the fire ant of fame and woe. I’m no expert on the subject, of course, but if we did have them I’m sure our vigilant media would be screaming a song of panic and frenzy about it the way they tried about “killer bees.”
July 3rd, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Pablo I think you’re onto something with your hypothesis about the rocks on top of leaves. Good sleuthing! If you had fire ants, you wouldn’t need the media to tell you about it. You’d know from personal experience, especially if you enjoy going bare footed.
July 3rd, 2006 at 5:29 pm
Well what would you do if somebody ripped off your roof?
July 4th, 2006 at 8:08 am
Two things: first – isn’t it interesting how the aphelion is greatest for our northern hemisphere’s summer? We come closest to the sun in the winter. It won’t stay this way always.
Second, Hal’s mention of Edmund Wilson. A bit outside the point of the post, perhaps, but given the ants/termites and the individual who has observed them for so many years, perhaps not. This person is without compare, to my mind, in the biological world. Wilson is a marvelous writer. His experience is extraordinary. As an observer of ants and termites he has no equal that I know of. And to boot, his mind goes way beyond that.
Two Books:
“The Diversity of Life”. Completely readable.
“Consilience”, Much more of a challenge. I’ve seen those suggest he’s talking way off the top of his head, and maybe so, but the writing is incredible, and the topic way overdue.
He’s one of my heroes.
July 31st, 2006 at 10:32 am
Circus of the Spineless XI…
Welcome to the 11th edition of Circus of the Spineless. This is the first time I’ve ever hosted a blog carnival. Putting it together has been an interesting experience – I just hope I haven’t left anything out! I couldn’t…