I was typing another blogpost, which involved such an amazing species of ants that I decided to introduce it first in a species spotlight, before posting the actual science-related piece. Honeypot ants (Myrmecocystus) are well known in the USA, as … Continue reading
One thing you might notice when walking through your garden, is big patches of small insects on the stem of a plant. These insects, known as aphids, feed on plant sap. However, this sap mostly consist of sugars, while containing … Continue reading
If you have read/seen the War of the Worlds (I admit to only having seen the 2005 version of it), you might remember that in the end, after destroying half of the world, the aliens suddenly collapse, as they got … Continue reading
Founding a new colony is not an easy task for an ant. In a lot of ant species, there is a mating flight, where males and virgin queens fly out of their colonies and mate with each other in the … Continue reading
If you were an ant, what would you do when you don’t want your nest-entrance to be found? Many ants answer this question by trying to block off their nest-entrance at night, presumably in order to prevent predators and parasites … Continue reading
Everyone knows that when you’re sick, you shouldn’t kiss or have too much contact with other people (unless you intentionally want to make them sick). In ants, this works in an entirely different way. If you get sick, your immune … Continue reading
So…now that a new blog about ants has been born, why not link that to another exciting thing: the start of some ant colonies! It’s been a long time since I kept ants. I used to keep many colonies (Lasius … Continue reading
