No Kent Brockman here:
Quote
Ant mega-colony takes over world
Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsimg.bbc.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F45993000%2Fjpg%2F_45993904_megacolonyants.jpg&hash=9982b1021c22fe438f3a641e4772dd338bcffa3e)
A queen and worker Argentine ant have many, many relatives
A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.
Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one another.
The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.
What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together.
Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.
These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops.
In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the "Californian large", extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan.
The enormous extent of this population is paralleled only by human society
Entomologists reveal the ant colony's true size
While ants are usually highly territorial, those living within each super-colony are tolerant of one another, even if they live tens or hundreds of kilometres apart. Each super-colony, however, was thought to be quite distinct.
But it now appears that billions of Argentine ants around the world all actually belong to one single global mega-colony.
Researchers in Japan and Spain led by Eiriki Sunamura of the University of Tokyo found that Argentine ants living in Europe, Japan and California shared a strikingly similar chemical profile of hydrocarbons on their cuticles.
But further experiments revealed the true extent of the insects' global ambition.
The team selected wild ants from the main European super-colony, from another smaller one called the Catalonian super-colony which lives on the Iberian coast, the Californian super-colony and from the super-colony in west Japan, as well as another in Kobe, Japan.
They then matched up the ants in a series of one-on-one tests to see how aggressive individuals from different colonies would be to one another.
Ants from the smaller super-colonies were always aggressive to one another. So ants from the west coast of Japan fought their rivals from Kobe, while ants from the European super-colony didn't get on with those from the Iberian colony.
One big family
But whenever ants from the main European and Californian super-colonies and those from the largest colony in Japan came into contact, they acted as if they were old friends.
These ants rubbed antennae with one another and never became aggressive or tried to avoid one another.
In short, they acted as if they all belonged to the same colony, despite living on different continents separated by vast oceans.
The most plausible explanation is that ants from these three super-colonies are indeed family, and are all genetically related, say the researchers. When they come into contact, they recognise each other by the chemical composition of their cuticles.
"The enormous extent of this population is paralleled only by human society," the researchers write in the journal Insect Sociaux, in which they report their findings.
However, the irony is that it is us who likely created the ant mega-colony by initially transporting the insects around the world, and by continually introducing ants from the three continents to each other, ensuring the mega-colony continues to mingle.
"Humans created this great non-aggressive ant population," the researchers write.
Didn't we have this before? Or did I dream it?
Kinda scary. Only the last paragraph helps explain it and make it less freaky.
the ants of Best-Litovsk have met their match. They must now square of against Cervantes-loving Katana-wielding hippie ants from 'argentina'
Quote from: The Brain on July 03, 2009, 07:12:45 AM
Didn't we have this before? Or did I dream it?
Yes, and last time we had a map showing the colonies location too.
I only remember hearing about the European colony.
once the queen dies, we'll see civil war, and humanity will be saved.
Nuke them from orbit it's the only way to be sure. :ccr
QuoteSo ants from the west coast of Japan fought their rivals from Kobe
Nobody likes Kobe.
Brest-Litovsk ants again? :huh:
Sounds like a good job. Traveling to different continents to pick up ants off the ground.
well I for one welcome our insect overlords and welcome the chance to work in their underground sugar caves.
:P someone had to say it.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vdare.com%2Fimages%2F091706_ss_WelcomeOurNew.jpg&hash=15c97a93f7a4484251dc5810b668247e84ce9592)
Quote from: Norgy on July 03, 2009, 11:08:55 AM
Brest-Litovsk ants again? :huh:
Hamilcar would be proud. To bad they forced him into the in that manned space program. Poor bastard.
Quote from: Razgovory on July 03, 2009, 12:03:09 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 03, 2009, 11:08:55 AM
Brest-Litovsk ants again? :huh:
Hamilcar would be proud. To bad they forced him into the in that manned space program. Poor bastard.
:lol:
Languish is all reruns now. The shark has been jumped. :(
Quote from: Razgovory on July 03, 2009, 12:03:09 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 03, 2009, 11:08:55 AM
Brest-Litovsk ants again? :huh:
Hamilcar would be proud. To bad they forced him into the in that manned space program. Poor bastard.
Nice one :lol:
Quote from: Caliga on July 03, 2009, 12:30:15 PM
Languish is all reruns now. The shark has been jumped. :(
I saw this one too. :(
Quote from: Caliga on July 03, 2009, 12:30:15 PM
Languish is all reruns now. The shark has been jumped. :(
And yet you do not listen to your friends' complaints about the rerun that is your face.
Quote from: Phillip V on July 03, 2009, 02:24:32 PM
Quote from: Caliga on July 03, 2009, 12:30:15 PM
Languish is all reruns now. The shark has been jumped. :(
And yet you do not listen to your friends' complaints about the rerun that is your face.
Between this post and Raz's I'm starting to wonder if English is still the language of choice on Languish.
Well, is it?
Prego.
We should have a Languish meet in warmer climes.
Quote from: Norgy on July 03, 2009, 05:43:13 PM
Prego.
We should have a Languish meet in warmer climes.
Agreed. Somewhere interesting with temperature of 30+ :w00t:
Who cares. Ants ain't intelligent enough to build weapons.
That's okay. Jews will sell them whatever they need for the right price.
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 03, 2009, 06:09:06 PM
Agreed. Somewhere interesting with temperature of 30+ :w00t:
Most places are generally above 30. :smarty:
Quote from: garbon on July 03, 2009, 07:35:36 PM
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 03, 2009, 06:09:06 PM
Agreed. Somewhere interesting with temperature of 30+ :w00t:
Most places are generally above 30. :smarty:
:( I know.
Quote from: Jaron on July 03, 2009, 07:09:24 PM
That's okay. Jews will sell them whatever they need for the right price.
Jaron, how the hell did you get 413 posts in the 4 weeks I was away?
Quote from: Siege on July 03, 2009, 09:00:27 PM
Jaron, how the hell did you get 413 posts in the 4 weeks I was away?
He has no life.