Chebucto Regional Softball Club

@Heliograph

The main reason I wonder if it's really "passed down" is not because crows don't pass down knowledge. They seem to.

But many birds and some other creatures participate in "anting" much to the distress and confusion of the ants.

@Heliograph

I don't know enough about crows to say if they "pass down the knowledge from generation to generation" but crows absolutely do get on ants nests, get the ants all upset so they spray formic acid, and do this for crow Health Reasons.

They are not the only creatures who do this. So-called "anting" is very upsetting for ground nesting ants. It's just rude IMO.

I *do* know crows will "pass down" other knowledge, such as which humans can be trusted. But is "anting" passed down?

@lemgandi @moira @Photo55

Totally gotta test more species.

@lemgandi @moira @Photo55

I don't know about every ant species, but carpenter ants were tested to see if they warmed their nest at all and they do not.

They are more concerned with humidity it seems.

@MisterMadge @ai6yr @alwirtes @paul_ipv6

This is so cool.

But my husband says I can't buy any kitchen things with a pressure gauge anymore.

@moira @Photo55

Kids know the concept of "hibernation" it's helpful to extend it to explain what ants an other insect that overwinter are doing.

Of course some ants just try to come inside your house for winter, but that's another matter.

@moira @Photo55

I sometimes do a little assembly about ants for kids, naturally I like everything to be correct, so I've been careful for years to always say "where do ants go in winter? they do something like hibernation but since they are insects and not warm-blooded we call it diapause."

Now I need to figure out what to say.

I'd rather just say "ants hibernate in winter" because they do it for the same reason as a bear or mouse, and it's similar in many ways.

But people get mad.

@Photo55

oy used the same word twice when I was trying to give both.

@Photo55

I don't know anymore.
diapause seems like the most general term? so everything that hibernates is in diapause.

I need an Euler diagram STAT of:

hibernation
estivation (or aestivation?)
diapause
dormancy
brumation
napping
torpor

With the differences and various example animals.

(If AI did what it claimed this would be a great task to ask from AI, but, in fact, this is the kind of thing LLMs are the worst at: making categorizations logically... and not making up animals)

Imagine a glamorous ant sleeping with a coca-cola cap as a pillow

"the diapause that refreshes"

If torpor isn't defined by body temperature but it's about "metabolic rate" then why is the diapause of the ants (other insects also participate) not considered torpor?

Further if a long torpor is a hibernation why correct people who say "the ants are hibernating"

"the ants are in diapause" is more correct. But I thought this was because only endotherms could hibernate.

I am confusion.

@herissonrose

for a moment I thought this was a tiny cat resting on a human hand... or perhaps ... a very huge human hand...

@goaty

I think these nests show how they are related to other wasps. We just get to see the things that winged wasps make more often.

@goaty

I've been in pottery classes and watched (human) people struggle to hand build a cup this nice and smooth and symmetrical.

And they weren't even working on a cup the size of a small house.

@goaty

Ants haven't figured out pottery that we know of yet. But they do sculpt clay:

Indian Harvester ants, Pheidole sykesii create levies around their nest entrance so that when it rains the flood waters do not enter, but rather flow around it while they stay dry underground.

They build in response to the water so you can tell which direction the water comes form during the rains based on the height of the walls.

I could write a whole book on "ants in pottery" ...

I found another remarkable ant vase. This one has a charming surprise inside.

It's a harvester ant!

Is it silly to have an ant making bread? I assure you it is not. Harvester ants crush the seeds they find and make them into a paste known as "ant bread" I suppose they don't bake it though...

Vase by Patricia Jones Jemez of Pueblo NM. She made many ant themed vases.

etsy.com

(www.etsy.com)

@queenofnewyork @NatureMC @EricLawton

Someone needed to study "The First Law of Antkeeping" (and also the second law)

RE: https://mastodon.online/@NatureMC/115911373525736414

can someone please help us remember this film?

I know THEM has a myrmecologist (and his hot daughter who is also a myrmecologist)

And there is a creepy one in Phase IV...

it's not one of these I hope. I want a new one.

UPDATE: It's been found. "Angels And Insects" see down thread.

@EricLawton

"Now I'm wondering how many fiction books there are, featuring ants."

Not enough. But, we work daily and with great dedication to correct this issue.