Adventures Among Ants | The Suicide Bomber

Image and copy via msnbc.com.

Terrorism doesn’t just exist among humans, according to ecologist Mark Moffett, and he has the photos to prove it.

Mark W. Moffett

In his new book ” Adventures Among Ants” (University of California Press, 2010), Moffett describes — and shows — how some ants will commit suicide in a very dramatic way while taking others out with them. (See ” Poison-Taster Ants Help Save Colonies.”)

Moffett told me that in this photo, “the reddish worker cylindricus ant has detonated — rupturing her body to release a toxic yellow glue that kills her and the enemy instantly.”

Just before this picture was snapped in Borneo, Moffett had set a trap at the base of a tree colonized by cylindricus ants. The trap was simply some honey that he drizzled around the tree trunk.

He describes what happened next:

“After an hour, weaver ants along with another species of carpenter ant located the bait and started arriving at the cylindricus-occupied tree. One of them started up the trunk, but then came down again. That one would live another day. Another climbed a bit higher and attempted to walk by a cylindricus minor worker. Just as I clicked the shutter there was a splash of yellow, and both ants were immobilized in a sticky, grotesque tableau.”

‘Zombie Ants’ Controlled by Parasitic Fungus for 48m Years

Original copy and image found Via The Guardian.

A carpenter ant (Camponotus leonardi) whose body has been consumed by the fungus Ophiocordyceps. Photograph: David P Hughes

The oldest evidence of a fungus that turns ants into zombies and makes them stagger to their death has been uncovered by scientists.

The gruesome hallmark of the fungus’s handiwork was found on the leaves of plants that grew in Messel, near Darmstadt in Germany, 48m years ago.

The finding shows that parasitic fungi evolved the ability to control the creatures they infect in the distant past, even before the rise of the Himalayas.

The fungus, which is alive and well in forests today, latches on to carpenter ants as they cross the forest floor before returning to their nests high in the canopy.

The fungus grows inside the ants and releases chemicals that affect their behaviour. Some ants leave the colony and wander off to find fresh leaves on their own, while others fall from their tree-top havens on to leaves nearer the ground.

The final stage of the parasitic death sentence is the most macabre. In their last hours, infected ants move towards the underside of the leaf they are on and lock their mandibles in a “death grip” around the central vein, immobilising themselves and locking the fungus in position.

TED Tuesday | Deborah Gordon Digs Ants

With a dusty backhoe, a handful of Japanese paint markers and a few students in tow, Deborah Gordon digs up ant colonies in the Arizona desert in search of keys to understanding complex systems.

via Deborah Gordon digs ants | Video on TED.com.

Ants: Nature’s Secret Power | Eden

“Bert Hoelldobler, friend of world renowned scientist Edward Wilson, is a world authority on these amazing animals. He has dedicated his life, travelling around the world, to understand these. Through his eyes and his words we will be transported into the world of the ants. A world more wonderful and bizarre than any science fiction. “Ants” will reveal this alien world for the first time, in the company of a true authority and enthusiast.

“Winner of: International Wildlife Film Festival Missoula (USA): “Best TV-Program” and “Best Educational Value” & NaturVision 2005: Best International Contribution / Best Camera”

Clip: Ants subterranean structures revealed.

The Ark In Space: The Ant With a Door for a Head

The ants live in trees in the forest areas of the new world tropics and the subtropics.  Some Cephalotes species can even glide back to the tree if they are knocked from it.   Most of them are what is known as polymorphic which means that they have various castes that have a specific use and purpose in the colony… More here

Quick Thinking Ants…