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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
 Posted - 05/08/2002 : 02:45:55
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quote:
Mon Apr 15, 5:02 PM ET
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A supercolony of ants has been discovered stretching thousands of miles from the Italian Riviera along the coastline to northwest Spain.
It's the largest cooperative unit ever recorded, according to Swiss, French and Danish scientists, whose findings appear in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
The colony consists of billions of Argentine ants living in millions of nests that cooperate with one another.
Normally, ants from different nests fight. But the researchers concluded that ants in the supercolony were all close enough genetically to recognize one another, despite being from different nests with different queens.
quote:
The European researchers said that in addition to the main supercolony of ants they found a second, smaller but also large colony of Argentine ants in Spain's Catalonia region.
When ants of the two supercolonies were placed together they invariably fought to the death, while ants from different nests of the same supercolony showed no aggression to one another.
quote:
However, in the long run the very cooperation that seems to make them successful could lead to the supercolony's self-destruction, he suggested.
That's because in such a giant colony many workers are unrelated to the queens they help to raise. "Thus, in the long term, selection should decrease the altruistic behavior of workers," he said, because their efforts are not helping transmit copies of their genes via related queens.
Well, some good news at least!
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020415/ap_on_re_eu/ br / super_ant_colonies_1&printer=1
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Lars_H
SFN Regular
Germany
630 Posts |
 Posted - 05/08/2002 : 05:31:40 [Permalink]
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When I first heared about this the most suprising thing to me was that the ants managed to cooperate over a larger area than humans manged. The supercolony goes through three different countries that barley managed to agree to a single currency and in wich nationalism runs amok.
It is also a good example of what can happen if you import non native species to an area.
The-Ignored you make it seem like there is some sort of plague going on. The way I understood it the existence of the ant colonies are not a new development, what is new is the fact that they cooperate over such a large area.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2002 : 08:42:49 [Permalink]
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About 3 years ago, I read that some fire ant colonies were cooperating with each other as well. Not too long ago, colonies would fight to the death in they encountered one another.
This is not good news as these ants are highly preditory. native species of ant don't stand a chance.
f
"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
- Albert Einstein
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2002 : 10:55:19 [Permalink]
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quote:
About 3 years ago, I read that some fire ant colonies were cooperating with each other as well. Not too long ago, colonies would fight to the death in they encountered one another.
This is not good news as these ants are highly preditory. native species of ant don't stand a chance.
f
"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
- Albert Einstein
Shades of "Phase IV" (1973)? (Also in the running for bad moves we love to hate.)
Link to movie cast and synopsis.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0070531
Cthulu/Asmodeus, when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils.
(edited to include movie link and correct movie title)
Edited by - VALIANT DANCER on 05/08/2002 11:08:33 |
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2002 : 13:11:48 [Permalink]
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Note to self:
Find out what company makes "Raid",
Buy stock.
Lisa
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2002 : 13:28:09 [Permalink]
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The antidote to that stuff used to be Atropine. Don't know if they've changed it over the years, but would you really want to set nerve gas off in your house?
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...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young |
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2002 : 13:51:22 [Permalink]
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lol Trish. Now I have a mental picture of little ants running around with itty-bitty atropine injectors.
Lisa
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2002 : 18:38:04 [Permalink]
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quote:
The-Ignored you make it seem like there is some sort of plague going on. The way I understood it the existence of the ant colonies are not a new development, what is new is the fact that they cooperate over such a large area.
Not really my intention; I almost put this under "Humour"
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