-
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
softorErulp on Wear and tear Crashfish: How viabl… on Exploding ants The World's 4 W… on Exploding ants Kumudini on Wear and tear The Song of Sleep |… on What do ants dream of? Archives
Categories
Ant Blogs
Other popular science blogs
Meta
-
Author Archives: antyscience
Wear and tear
Leaf-cutter ants work incredibly hard every day. They climb trees, after which they cut, transport and process leaves in order to feed them to their fungus. The ants divide these tasks in order to increase efficiency. Strong, big workers are good … Continue reading
Dusty defences
Last time we found out that the fungus of Leafcutter ants can be pretty weak against diseases. This can cause big problems for the ants, because they are completely dependent on the fungus for their food. Unfortunately for them, a parasitic … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Deadly poop
Leaf-cutting ants, as their name implies, cut leaves. Instead of hunting or scavenging for prey, they actively cut leaves and bring them back to their nest. These leaves are processed by smaller workers, and incorporated in to the fungus they … Continue reading
Posted in Ant science
Tagged Acromyrmex, fungus growing ant, gongylidia, leaf cutting ant, mutualism
1 Comment
Species Spotlight: Leafcutter ants
Remember this amazing movie by Disney called the Lion King? Remember the first scene where all the animals are going to see the presentation of Simba? In the first minute, you’ll see ants walking in a line, all with a piece … Continue reading
How to be a successful slavemaker
If you are a new slave-making ant queen, looking for a nest to enslave. How are you going to this? The problem is, ants can smell out almost any intruder, so getting into their fortress in order to take it … Continue reading
Species spotlight: Amazon ants (Polyergus)
As we’ve established by now, some ant species enslave other ants. However, while for some species slavery is optional, other species completely depend on their slaves to survive. On first sight, Amazon ants look like any other ant. However, on closer inspection, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
Sneaky slaves
Ant slaves are generally considered as poor helpless sods, being unable to do anything about their sad situation. However, this turns out to not always be the case! Enslaved Temnothorax workers rebel against their slavers in a unique and sneaky … Continue reading
An introduction to slavery
Ants are not exactly known to be nice to their neighbors. However, not all species solve their problems with violence. Indeed, some ants try to exploit their neighbors instead of killing them! Enter the slave making ants. These ants actively … Continue reading
The game of ant-thrones
In most ants, colonies consist of one or several queens and many workers. The queens take care of reproducing, while the workers…work. These workers are mostly sterile, unable to mate and lay eggs. However, in some primitive ants, such as … Continue reading
Ants don’t like traffic jams!
How do we prevent ourselves from crashing in to opposite traffic while driving on very narrow roads? We put down traffic lights, and let people drive back and forth in groups. This way, everybody can get where they need to … Continue reading
AntyScience 