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Call for questions: 🐜myrmecology (ANTS) 🐜 (Patreon)

Published:
2018-07-29 01:39:43
Imported:
2018-07

Content

Interviewing ant expert Terry McGlynn tomorrow so toss me your ant questions!  Social structure, tiny graveyards, picnic usurping... Bring it. 

Comments

Adrian Belmontez

Why do they like to sneak into a bag of dog food and ruin it for my fur babies smh

Tyler

SimAnt = accurate?

C4kleber

What makes some ant bites so much more painful,such as the bullet ant?

Betsy Lang

Why are army ants so... war like? Are resources so limited that they must attack each other?

Todd McLaren

How do they find food that’s left out from so far away?

Todd McLaren

What’s the deepest ant hole recorded

Everest Chamberlain

If you’re mean like my husband and squish a “scout” ant that you see on it’s own in our house, will the colony send another scout to look for it? Or just abandon their fallen comrade?

Robyn Strom

What are the ants that my grandma would call “sugar ants”?

Radha Vakharia

HOW are they so strong?? Can all ant species lift 10 times their body weight?

Evan Simkowitz

I know that ants can carry a lot more than their body weight but what if they were human size? Would the same ratio apply?

Evan Simkowitz

What mechanisms do ants use to organize when they’re out scavenging/building?

Aki

Are ants able to hear anything? If they can, what sounds do they like/hate?

Cody Woppenkamp

Someone once told me that based on estimates, ants outnumber humans. Am I gullible or is that fact true?

K3ndyl

I'm a farmer and am fascinated by ants "farming" aphids on my crops. What's the deal with that, and do they do this with other species?

Taylor Mathis

How similar is ant social structure to bee's social structure?

Mark

How can a cluster of fire ants act like both a solid and a liquid?

Joe O'Bannon

How do some ants cling together to create rafts to survive in floods?

Jordan Werme

What's the deal with fire ants? Are they actually small Borg armies? And since they are Borg, how do we defeat them?

MentalHeadgear

As soon as I saw this post it reminded me of the infection that turns ants into zombies. What is it and what is the life cycle?

Kellen Freeman

What do ants eat? Also can you discuss how the death spiral works? Are ants and grasshoppers really enemies (as depicted in A Bug's Life)?

Mark Donahue

Ants are so incredible and yet to the general public they are seen as simple little nuisances. That couldn’t be further from the truth. What can we do, or is being done, to change this? How do we educate people?

MentalHeadgear

P.S. I am terrified that this going to happen to humans, for example, The Last of US 😬

Greg

There have been significant new discoveries about ant evolution and biology. What have we leaned so far that can shed insight on how we can promote helpful insect species? How do ant microbiomes compared to other insects and living creatures?

Craig Minami

Are there any natural remedies (other insects) you could use to control ants in our yards?

Christin McAdams

Fire ants why do they hate me so much? Why are they constantly biting me so viciously? Can’t we all just get along?

Geoffrey Ehnis-Clark

Are individual ants hydrophobic or is that a quality they only take on in groups? Is that only certain varieties, such as fire ants?

Mary Kay Zolezzi

How do you feel about non-natives like Argentines? It's like we live on one giant California-shaped ant hill.

Rachel von Morrigan

Can you explain what’s happening in an ant “death spiral?”

Lillee Hill

Why do fire ants hate me?! I just want to be their friend.

Mikey

Why do bullet ants scream when they attack? Is it an intimidation tactic?

Bob White

Does the exoskeleton of an ant possess a strength to weight ratio comparable to carbon fiber? My impression leads me to believe it may even be higher.

Kelsey O'Conor

Are ants pests or are they Bros? I don't want them in my kitchen but they keep showing up.

Elizabeth Anderson

How do ants communicate to other ants when they've found something good - food source etc? I know you talked about the waggle dance in the melittology episode, what's the ant equivalent?

Makenna Hopwood

How much weight can an ant carry? Why do they carry other dead ants away?

Codi Schmitt

Are ants the smallest species of insect? Most of the ants that I see are SOOO tiny

Donatellia Austin

How do they feel about ant farms???? I feel like I tortured my little ant colony by letting them hang out in an kid ant farm.

Anna Thompson

Where did ants come from? How are they so tiny yet so strong?

Erin Kelly

Whhhhhhy do they exist!? But also I just had to pay extra to prove I was highly allergic to fire ants. Why are they worse? đŸ˜©

Tom Myers

Here in Portland OR we often have sugar ants hanging out in the kitchen. They don’t seem to cause any damage, unless you leave food out. Are they beneficial in any way? Why do they smell like banana ‘now and laters’ when squished?

Sarah

Are there plants I can plant around my house that will deter ants? Are there any effective non-poison ways to keep them out of my food?!

Tom Myers

Also (can I ask two?), how long have ants been around and how have they changed over time?

Tracy Benhamou

I have to know, will ants added to a “camping sautĂ©â€ add a little flavor like lemon juice, due to their acetic acid in their heads?

Casey Handmer

What's the deal with ants that can count and do basic algebra? This is totally a real thing, I am not making it up.

Ted Vician

Any knowledge of research to use ant behaviors as analogs for robots? I recently read _Kill Decision_ by Daniel Suarez, which features a myrmecologist whose research into ant behavior is used to program unmanned military aircraft and ground vehicles in swarming behavior.

Christopher Barley

Ants are the only creatures on Earth (besides humans) who have set up farms. (they farm aphids for their honey dew) I would love to know more about that process, i.e. how they setup the farms, how they get the honey dew, how they manage the aphids, etc.

Mary Lee

How old can ant hills be? And can you ever get rid of an ancient ant hill?

Eva

How did ants develop “farming”? Does this make them smarter than early humans?

Danny Kang

Have you ever spelled your name out in ant pheromones a la E.O. Williams?

Danny Kang

Also, will we one day be survants to Argentinian ants?

Tyler James

Regarding Ant-Man, how big can an ant get before its exoskeleton becomes too heavy to remain structurally sound?

Lauren Eggert-Crowe

Why does sprinkling cinnamon keep ants away, and would this actually work with any spice that blocks the scent of their ant trails?

Zach Tarble

I've heard that ants are great at predicting weather, is there any truth to this?

Marisa Brewer

In the past, I believe I have seen ants carrying other ants that I thought were dead. Why do they do this? Where are they going?

Corianne Wilson

Is their any reason I should allow the ant colony somewhere in my kitchen to continue? I mean, I leave what I know to be non-venomous spiders in my house alone, because they eat pesky bugs. Do ants provide a benefit to the human habitat?

Sean & Josh Grandinetti

What is the most amazing ant behavior you have seen? Do they have self awareness?

Matisse Larocque

Just wanna mention that earlier today I was telling myself "an ologies episode on ants would be the BEST" and I'm SO HAPPY! I was watching ants eat up a piece of meat today and saw some of them do a wiggly dance thing, I was wondering what it might be/mean?

Kathleen Jones

I have pharoah ants in my bathroom, and have been putting out some murder gel for them for about a week and a half now, which they are gobbling up like they're day drunk at McDonalds on a Thursday. I know they have multiple queens (fuck yes matriarchal societies), so how long should I expect them to hang around for? Will they eventually realize the convenient snacks I've left laying around shouldn't be eaten? Also, how much of an asshole am I for killing these tiny hard-working feminists? My partner and I usually have a catch-and-release policy for our apartment, but they're just so tiny and also live inside my walls so I don't even know where we would start, but if you are able to absolve me of my ant crimes I would sleep a whole lot better.

Ian

Do any other species have a behavior like honey pot ants?

Jade

Which is more accurate scientifically; A Bug's Life or Antz?

Olaf Doschke

How do ants signal a food source found? Do they have something equal to the bees waggle dance? Or do they not, as they can use trails of scents? What's similar and different in ant vs termite vs bee hives?

Olaf Doschke

I think the weirdest thing I know about ants is how they bundle to living rafts and float on water, eg to survive a flood - at least red fire ants do that. I'm sure your guest will tell something more special or weird than that, so why not ask directly: What's most special to note about any ant species.

Tarmo Toikkanen

Any rules of thumb to knowing whether ants around your picnic place are going to be aggressive, painful, or just sugar hungry? Like size, color, etc.

Brooke Shearin

Can you talk more on how we are discovering that ants use sound as well as pheromones to communicate?

Jack Kelleher

How do they communicate? Sounds? Vibrations? Movement? If it’s sounds do the males sound like Woody Allen? Sylvester Stallone? Christopher Walken?

Kate Chapman

Do all types of ants have some members with wings or only certain species?

Thorsten

I find this aspect of ants farming especially interesting, too! What’s up with that? Are ants the only animals that farm? Does it have implications regarding, for example, culture and civilizations as unique traits of us humans?

Mike Melchior

Why did the T. Giganteum ants die out?

Mark Donahue

They do it for the honey dew. Basically aphid doo doo. It’s food for the ants. That’s why they protect them.

WiGeekMom

I have two giant ass anthills in my yard. One in front and one in back. The backyard one is several feet in diameter. The ants are the black or dark brown ones that are typically depicted invading picnics. Are they destructive? Should I worry? Or should I let mother nature be? It's been there for several years (I've tried to murder them and failed.) and it gets bigger every year. How long until it engulfs my house?

Krista Meyer

When I see a line of (what I assume to be) Argentinian ants marching towards my kitchen, there is always one ant that moves faster and more erratic than the rest. It’s like he’s late for a very important meeting but he can’t find the right conference room. What’s up with that little guy? Is his mission different from the others?

Lauren Harter

How is an ant's social caste determined when it's laid or hatched? Can they ever change - do ants have upward social mobility?

John Worster

What does an ant diet consist of?

Alyssa Bean

If I accidentally eat an ant will I survive?

Dave Miller, PhD

is it true that the weight of all the ants in the world exceeds the weight of all the humans in the world, or is that just a myth?

Jessamy Wieser

What benefits do ants have to nature? Besides being a part of the food chain?

Anne-Sophie Caron

How important are ants as predators? Are they mostly opportunistic when it comes to feeding on other insects (like caterpillars) or do they seek them out?

Reuben Clamzo

Is there any way to stop invasive ant species once they're established here?

TONY BRAZELTON

I have squished a lot of bugs in my life, but only stink bugs and ants seem to have a strong odor when squished. What makes the odor and why do they possess that chemical in the first place?

Shannon Levesque

The ants in our yard/house (southern CA) smell like mint when they are crushed. Huh? Why??

Shannon Levesque

My daughter Zoe Vaughn wants to know how ants reproduce and who “raises”

Steve Balk

Are powdered ants a proven aphrodisiac or pandered Chinese folklore?

Billy Marino

What is/are the benefits of ants in our ecosystem? Also, do you think the recent surge in popularity of Ant-Man is having any impact on popular opinion about ants?

Becca Bee

Why do they carry the dead away? Do they eat them? I notice they'll abandon the body when startled, but when they're always gone later, so they must come back for them ... right?

Marissa Wilk

if an ant crawls onto my car and I drive like a hundred miles away, could that ant join a new colony or is it just lost forever now? (if you use my question my pronouns are they/them thanks!)

Euan Munro

I heard that ants can change their role within the hive (soldier/worker/etc) if the proportions of each group isn't right. How do they know and what sort of physical changes do those little critters go through?

Pete Richardson

Is it really true that there's like this crazy aggressive South American ant everywhere in the world but there are only two (massive) nests and they're really intolerant (like REALLY) of each other and are they basically going to take over the world?

HangryAuntie

Why are fire ants... at all? Whyyyy?

magmaPool

If an ant is separated from it's colony, does it just go lone wolf, or wait to die?

Carrie Stuard

Why are ants attracted to sugar yet repelled by lavender or mint? They're both sort of sweet, why does one attract and the other repel?

Megan Younce

Why do carpenter ants taste like peanut butter? My dad told me this as a kid and I thought it was a trick, but then he finally talked me into eating one and it tasted exactly like peanut butter.

Tyler

Wait I think I'm too late, but did he mention the crazy thing where ants form a raft with their bodies to traverse flowing water without accidentally killing anyone and how do they organize that shit?! This has blown my mind for years