The October Circus of the Spineless is up at Wanderin’ Weeta. Fun to read, as always.

Also wanted to report two items that turned up almost exactly a year ago. Last week I saw the same kind of silverfish that I found in the opening of harvester ant nests again. I looked [...]]]> Just a few updates today.

The October Circus of the Spineless is up at Wanderin’ Weeta. Fun to read, as always.

Also wanted to report two items that turned up almost exactly a year ago. Last week I saw the same kind of silverfish that I found in the opening of harvester ant nests again. I looked it up and I saw them last year in the first part of September. No better photographs than last year, but it was also in a harvester ant mound.

Two weeks ago I saw another “meet and greet” by rover ants. The first time I saw that October 10 last year. I’d really like to find out more about that behavior.

Anyone out there have any ideas?

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona is hosting David Roger’s Big Bugs sculpture exhibit again, starting in September. They have some ant-related events associated with the exhibit:

There will be a showing of the documentary Ants — Nature’s Secret Power on November 3, 2011 at  7-8:30 [...]]]> Just wanted to give my local readers a heads up:

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona is hosting David Roger’s Big Bugs sculpture exhibit again, starting in September. They have some ant-related events associated with the exhibit:

There will be a showing of the documentary Ants — Nature’s Secret Power on November 3, 2011 at  7-8:30 p.m., with a question and answer session by Dr. Bert Hoelldobler afterwards.

Kevin Haight from Arizona State University will present Ants in the Sonoran Desert on Saturday, October 8, 2011.

There is a fee for both programs above, the amount depending on whether you are a member of the garden or not.

Look for classes for children and a kid’s movie at the website as well.

As usual, I had about two minutes to watch them.

I noticed a couple of workers struggling with something.

It looked like a queen ant with deformed wings.

The workers let it go and it ran off.

At which point my brother-in-law asked me [...]]]> Last month while I was in Denver, I noticed some ants in my in-laws front yard.

As usual, I had about two minutes to watch them.

I noticed a couple of workers struggling with something.

It looked like a queen ant with deformed wings.

The workers let it go and it ran off.

At which point my brother-in-law asked me what I was doing. “You look a little weird, you know,” he said. Needless to say, I gave up my chase.

I started taking photographs of the flowers instead <grin>.

How do you disguise yourself while taking photographs?

Does anyone recognize what the ants were dragging?

What is this creature?

And why am I featuring it on my ant blog?

It is about two 1/2 inches long. I had never seen one before, but I knew what it was from its behavior. Looking through the microscope at its outer covering, I saw I was right. What did [...]]]> How well do you know your fauna?

What is this creature?

And why am I featuring it on my ant blog?

It is about two 1/2 inches long. I had never seen one before, but I knew what it was from its behavior. Looking through the microscope at its outer covering, I saw I was right. What did I see?

I’ll post the answers on Tuesday.

11)  Are there some ant species that simply drink water and then other species that absorb it [...]]]> Mike wrote to the “Consult-Ant” with a number of questions about ants. I am going to try to answer each one in a separate post. For the original list of questions and links to all answers, visit here.

11)  Are there some ant species that simply drink water and then other species that absorb it from the humidity of the air? Or do they all do both?

Your question reminded me of the movie Microcosmos, which contains some great footage of ants and other insects dealing with water. I’ll throw the trailer below.

The second thing I thought of was communal peeing as a flood defense, where ants drink water and then run outside to “pee,” removing excess water from their nests. You know you want to click the link and see it, so go ahead. I’ll wait for you to come back.

Ants need water. Many drink water from drops and small puddles.

Ants drinking honey

Ants can obtain moisture from a variety of sources, including food. Leafcutter ants and weaver ants obtain moisture from plant sap. Many ants tend aphids and other insects of the order Homoptera for liquid honeydew, which is full of water. Other ants visit extrafloral nectaries on plants for a source of sweet liquid.

Ants have also been shown to use “tools” to help them collect larger amounts of water and sweet liquids than they could carry in their crops. Harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex) have been known to toss sand into liquid food and then carry it back to their nest. Aphaenogaster ants use bits of plant material as sponges to soak up liquids and transport it.

Mark Moffett found Diacamma ants decorate their nests with feathers, which collect dew in the early morning. (I have seen Forelius ants carrying feathers here in Arizona.) He also suggests that the dead ants spread around the nest might also serve for dew collection.

As far as “absorbing humidity,” Coenen-staß (1986) suggested that the red wood ant, Formica polyctena, might be able to absorb water vapor based on sorption rates. Other scientists have investigated desiccation resistance, and suggest that, for example,  some ants can reclaim their internal water through structures called “rectal pads”(Hood and Tschinkel, 1990).

Videos showing ants drinking water:

Microcosmos trailer. For a review, see my Growing With Science blog.

The bottom line is that worker ants do drink water, and give it to other members of the colony. As for humidity absorption, that is relatively unknown.

For more information:

Coenen-staß, D. (1986). Investigations on the water balance in the red wood ant, Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera, formicidae): Workers, their larvae and pupae. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology. 83 (1): 141-147.

Hood, G. and W.R. Tschinkel. (1990). Desiccation resistance in arboreal and terrestrial ants. Physiological Entomology, 15 (1):  23-35.

Moffett, M.W. 2010. Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Simply FYI, I am hosting the 50th edition of the Festival of the Trees carnival at Growing With Science blog at the end of the month. The theme is Trees Through a Child’s Eyes.

Let me know if you have any child-friendly posts about trees that you would like to share. Ideas include bark rubbings, [...]]]> Dear Readers,

Simply FYI, I am hosting the 50th edition of the Festival of the Trees carnival at Growing With Science blog at the end of the month. The theme is Trees Through a Child’s Eyes.

Let me know if you have any child-friendly posts about trees that you would like to share. Ideas include bark rubbings, children’s drawings of trees and leaves, ideas for or photographs of tree houses, nature journals with tree themes, photos from a favorite walk through the woods, science experiment ideas, etc. Of course, we would welcome reviews of good children’s books about trees as well.

Please send your links to growingwithscience {at} gmail (dot) com with Festival of the Trees in the subject line by June July 29.

Looking forwarding to hearing from you,

-Roberta

P.S. To those of you who subscribe to more than one of my blogs, I apologize for the duplicate post. Just trying to get the word out to everyone…

I have an ant farm with Little Black ants but not a queen. can one of the ants become a queen?

Thanx Zarah

Zarah,

I’m afraid once an ant becomes an adult ant, it can no longer change form or shape. It can’t shed its skin or grow.

Adult worker black ants can not become queens, [...]]]> I have an ant question!

I have an ant farm with Little Black ants but not a queen. can one of the ants become a queen?

Thanx
Zarah

Zarah,

I’m afraid once an ant becomes an adult ant, it can no longer change form or shape. It can’t shed its skin or grow.

Adult worker black ants can not become queens, and the worker ants can not lay eggs that will become queens either.

There are a few types of ants where special workers become “queens,” but those ants are much more like wasps, and you wouldn’t want to keep them in a regular ant farm. If you’d like a more detailed explanation, check the ant queen development post.

How are your little black ants doing? I hope they are doing well.