Ants: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

tking77798 (62) 5 years ago

Awesome article. One of my Bio professors in college was convinced that ants would take over the world one day. It later turned out that he was just one million ants in a trench coat.

You didn't mention one of my favorite ant behaviors: Some species cultivate fungus for food. They're tiny insect farmers and surprisingly successful at it.

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3 votes

agmoore (64) 5 years ago (edited)

What a delight to have you stop by and mention this aspect of ant behavior. I finished the blog with the idea of writing an ant book. There must be so many out there, but this is such a rich topic. I think your Bio professor (million ants in a trench coat😂) may have been right!

Edit: I'm looking at my brief answer to you. Perhaps you can't tell by my answer that so much of what I read about ants led me to read more. I realized as I went along that one of my greatest challenges was going to be deciding what to leave out and what to leave in. Most people really don't want to know very much about ants, I think.
Yes, there are farmers--and self-exploding ants. Then there are the different types of colony organization. One area that interested me in particular was the mutualistic relationship between gut bacteria and some ants. But if I wrote an article about that I might have only one reader (you 🙂).
It is possible I'm a frustrated biologist.

3 votes

alexander.alexis (63) 5 years ago

Two!

agmoore (64) 5 years ago

I am so tempted. I discovered an interesting thread when I wrote the blog about ants in hospitals, but I have controlled myself. Two readers might be enough to go forward....:)

tking77798 (62) 5 years ago

Ants are fascinating so I think you’d get a lot of readers no matter how much you write about them. I bet you could fill an entire post about the ant gut microbiome :)

agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Yes, I could! :))

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alexander.alexis (63) 5 years ago

😄

roy2016 (57) 5 years ago

Great post. Resteemed.

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agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Wow! Thank you!

brisby (58) 5 years ago

Wow! Another fantastic article! I've never thought about ants as much as when I've read your last two pieces.

Ants are amazing creatures that can be both a blessing to their natural systems or a blight to those they've invaded. You've me thinking now, over the millions of years of propagating, pollinating and invading, how much of our world as we know it is due to ants?

From the article through the American Bird Conservancy link that you referenced:

“We have to be careful when implementing ant control measures because the removal of one species leaves resources available for other invaders, including more harmful ant species,”

Finding a workable balance between ants and humans seems to require more effort and finesse than a high wire motorcycle act.

I was surprised to learn that ants farm aphids. Yet another way these fascinating social creatures have a similarity to humans (farming other species).

Will you be doing another piece on ants? (Please say yes, no pressure. 😉)

(Brisby pictures herself happily wading in water when suddenly she comes across a raft of ants! 😱 Come to think of it, Raft of Ants sounds like a movie I'd watch.)

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agmoore (64) 5 years ago

😬 😁
Raft of Ants--that may be one movie title that hasn't been used yet!
Thank you for enjoying the article. The nerd in me gets exercise on Steemit. There are many more interesting ant facts. There's one particular line of investigation, about plant-eating ants, that I find fascinating. After writing a few more stories I may be ready to delve back into the universe of science. Hard to write because I have to double and triple check facts and references, so as not to make a mistake.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Always a pleasure to find here.

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erh.germany (64) 5 years ago

Thank you for this rich contribution and insight into the many ant species and their activities.

When I once went on holiday on Mallorca, we were well advised not to leave any open food lying around in our holiday home. After we hadn't even thought about it for the first day and came back to the house, there were many ant roads on the ground that ran up the kitchen counter to collect the crumbs. We quickly agreed that we didn't like to share the room with the ants and locked everything edible and swept the floor clean when we left. Afterwards not a single ant was to be seen any more, although they were of course nevertheless somewhere outside of our view. Their presence didn't bother me much. In such an environment the ants educate one to cleanliness, so much was certain.

The usefulness and harmfulness of ants depends, it seems, on how much useful and harmful things they find for themselves. When the biosphere is in balance and its natural enemies and friends are present, no ant is a problem. So I wonder which of their natural enemies are not present in the territories they conquered. Which in turn raises the question of whose food an environment does not provide. The less the food chain is maintained, the less organisms stand between us and the ants. Did your research provide any information about the natural enemies that kept the ant population in check in a relevant way? And here it becomes clear once again that the gross intervention and exposure of predators by humans can only create a new imbalance if it is not based on a permacultural thought that not only has the animals in view, but also the plants.

It seems to be of the greatest difficulty to artificially create such a balance and this is probably the human tragedy that we as creators of our environment have dared to venture so far out that we are no longer accustomed to sharing our habitat with animals and plants, since if nature gets too close to us, we have to reckon with all possible diseases and dangers. But of course, nothing that man does makes him really safe. And where a danger is eliminated, a new one is created by man himself on himself.

Your Youtube example, which shows how ants defend their habitat against elephants, shows once again that basically any species - whether mammal, cold-blooded animal, insect or plant - can become dangerous.

For me this raises the question whether humans, like all other living creatures, simply try to dominate their habitat and behave like ants and elephants. Which at the same time leaves us wondering: Which living being actually keeps humans in check? We also know the creepy answer: the smallest of all: viruses and bacteria.

Well then: I have been walking on earth for almost fifty years. How can I claim that my death or that of many others due to an infectious disease does not contribute to the natural balance? This may sound macabre, but this way of seeing it may not be the worst. Which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I think it would be good if my loved ones or myself had to suffer. Intervention is necessary and meaningful, but assault is less so.

agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Hi Erika,
I had an off day so haven't been active on Steemit until now. I'm going to start my response to your comment by saying this article was prompted partly by your reaction to my previous ant blog. You were right to point out then that we should not dismiss ants as pests...that they have a place on earth as we do. And so I looked into it and tried to give a balanced argument.
I'm glad you raise the point today about natural enemies of ants...one is actually indicated in this article: the fungus that is afflicting fire-starting ants is a natural enemy and it seems to be picking on them alone. There are of course ant eaters and other 'enemies' of ants. I had make decisions about what to cover and what not to cover--it's not easy. I tried to make this interesting and at the same time informative. The best I hoped for happened with you: more questions. I think whenever we leave a piece curious about something we've read, that's a good thing.
The note that you end on....where do we fit in the natural balance? Is always a good question. I think we probably are wisest to respect life and acknowledge modestly how much we don't understand about its delicate balance.
Thanks so much for reading my long article about ants :)

alexander.alexis (63) 5 years ago (edited)

Pseudomyrmex

I wonder why they gave it this name; it basically means 'fake ant'.

They work together so completely that some entomologists have characterized their colonies as a superorganisms.

I was gonna say that, the reason ants are so eusocial and cooperative is because many share more than 50% of their genes, which means inputting that into a game theory scenario will give you radically different results from most species we know: less antagonistic and more cooperative.

Ants are overall one of the most fascinating creatures on earth. Which is why I'm gonna binge on the linked videos now...

agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Thank you for that --- sent me looking for a 'fake ant' explanation. It seems they are very wasp-like. As a matter of fact, all descriptions of them include that phrase. Read this bit...fascinating that one variety of Pseudomyrmex differs from some ant species in that the ants don't leave pheromone trails when they establish a new nest but "adult workers carry other aged workers, queens, and males to the new nest site".
Always a bright spot when I see you on one of blogs. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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alexander.alexis (63) 5 years ago (edited)

I know my baldness casts a reflection. No need to point it out. 😔

agmoore (64) 5 years ago

😄😁

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utopian-io (71) 5 years ago

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agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Thank you so much!!

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steemstem (73) 5 years ago

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agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Thank you....all three. I have chosen you as witnesses. It's great fun writing these posts, but getting your upvote really puts the cherry on the cake :)

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whatisnew (65) 5 years ago

This was an interesting and informative post. I like how the weaver ants build a "living bridge." And I was shocked to see that humongous mound made by red wood ants. I wonder how long it took them to build that. And those poor birds in Hawaii. Now I have the heebie-jeebies. Scratching and making sure no ants are crawling on me while I send you this !tip.

Congratulations on your well deserved upvotes!

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agmoore (64) 5 years ago

Thank you so much! And thanks for the !tip!! I love learning about nature, insects, stuff that might seem boring. I wonder sometimes if anyone is interested, but I keep writing. Grateful for the upvotes.
Yeah, me too, the heebie-jeebies. After a while, I got disgusted looking at ants. Never felt that way about them before.
Have a wonderful night. Look forward to your nature posts.

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whatisnew (65) 5 years ago

My pleasure! : ) Nature never ceases to amaze me and I write that a lot in my posts. I get so excited every time I find a new insect and love to do the research to find out all I can about it. Except for spiders. Those I could do without. Shivers!
You have a great night too! : )

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lymepoet (63) 5 years ago

Congrats on the Curie upvote! This post deserved it as it is so informative and interesting. So great to learn new things about ants!

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