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During a quick hike through South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona yesterday, I spotted a Messor Pogonomyrmex rugosus harvester ant mound. The refuse or midden pile was covered with a fluffy material. The ants apparently have been collecting the seeds of this plant, and discarding the seed coats. It is a common plant in the Sonoran desert. Do [...] When I am acting as the “Consult-Ant” and answering questions about ant farms, people are generally interested in finding out more about ant queens. When an ant colony is ready to branch out, the current queen lays eggs that develop into males or new queens instead of workers. Adult male ants are winged, and have small [...] Have you heard the buzz about the fungus-gardening ant, Mycocepurus smithii? Apparently the queens can crank out workers and new queens without fertilization of the eggs. Genetic studies have shown the workers to be clones of their queen mother. No males have ever been found in nature, and laboratory colonies can’t be induced to make [...] Aren’t different kinds of ants supposed to fight? Why are these red and black ants are working together? Mark Moffett shows us why in this video entitled Pirates of the Sagehen, taken at UC Berkeley’s Sagehen Creek Field Station. |
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