Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Greeting's Avalonians,
I was a sociology/socialwork major, and have always been fascinated and a keen observer of human and animal social group structures. This morning, I was contemplating all the recent social drama within our own social community, and noticed this interesting and telling article~ in regards too the social dynamics of ants.
Science News
Ant colonies attack queens that don't produce largest broods, study finds~
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Even in the domain of insects, uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
Life in some ant colonies, it turns out, is quite Shakespearean, with worker ants killing off queens, and queens attempting clever reproductive strategies to survive.
Luke Holman, a University of Copenhagen ant researcher who recently published a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B about ants in multi-queen colonies, said that queen ants are wilier than previously thought, protecting themselves even if their strategy hurts the colony's survival.
When an ant colony is forming, several queens will often work together to produce large broods of worker ants. But within about 45 days, those initial worker ants turn on the queens, biting them and spraying them with acid, apparently so that only one will be left to reign.
According to Holman and his co-authors, some queens in these multi-queen colonies will start to produce smaller broods, apparently in an effort to conserve energy to survive the battles with the worker ants. (In colonies with single queens, the researchers found no reduction in offspring production.)
Holman said the strategy did not appear to work, because the worker ants, using chemical cues, could determine which queens were most fertile and thus most likely to keep the colony going. The workers were more likely to attack "selfish" queens that had reduced their fertility.
Not that the ants think in those terms. Holman said in an e-mail that they were just doing what evolution had built into them for survival: "Natural selection has shaped the evolution of behavior." The queens that became less fertile, he said, "might be sensitive to some sort of cue found on other queens and ant brood. When they detect this cue, some sort of physiological pathway reduces their hormone levels and makes them a little less fertile, giving the impression that queens 'decide' not to reproduce."
Similarly, he said, "workers might have an inbuilt tendency to be aggressive towards queens, but this is inhibited by a chemical on the queens, which is in turn correlated with how fertile the queen is. Therefore, workers appear to us to be sniffing out fertile queens and preferentially sparing them, but really it is just that natural selection has favoured workers whose aggression is inhibited by an odour associated with fertile queens."
Lady Macbeth would have understood.
-- Margaret Shapiro
article from here;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031502096.html
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Greetings,
a revisit to this old thread :)
The world's ants captured in 3D in pictures
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/12880498
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
an old thread re-visited... :bump:
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...r_ant_face.jpg
sniff :spider: sniff
Ants remember their enemy's scent
Ant colonies - one of nature's most ancient and efficient societies -
are able to form a "collective memory" of their enemies, say scientists...
read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17099761
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
time for an update ...
'Crazy ants' that feast on electronics and are invading the U.S.
CANNOT be killed with normal insecticide ...
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...27_634x441.jpg
Read more here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...l-species.html
5 Attachment(s)
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Hello, I wonder if there are any Avalonians who are Entomologists in their knowledge that may help, (hope it's okay to post this on giovonni's old thread)
Or is there anyone that is perheps familiar and may be able to provide more details on this insect which visited my place yesterday - it was unusually hugh with long antennae, nothing that I have encountered before
One more inquiry is about the gold colored preying mantis and how widespread is this type? (A guest from last year)
Many thanks in advance,
Limor
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
I'm not an entomologist, but mantises take on the color of their surroundings, so the one in the picture must have been living somewhere that is gold in color, like dry grass, or something like that.
p.s. I don't know what kind of bug that other one is, but it is very beautiful :)
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Thanks, Selkie, it's rare to see that color on a mantis, a few people have mentioned they have not seen a color like this before. I am also thinking that the unusual insect is very beautiful which I communicated to it
I am bumping, in the hope to find an answer :)
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Hi Limor. :)
It just so happens that I am an Entomologist and stumbled across this thread. What you have there is a Longhorn beetle. I am unsure of the exact species because I'm not familiar with Israel flora and fauna. Here are some more photos of different Longhorn beetle species you can browse through.
As far as the praying mantis goes, Selkie is exactly right. They have the ability to camouflage themselves to their surroundings, so that little fella probably spent a lot of time in tall grass (or perhaps a pile of gold at the end of a rainbow ;)).
In case you're interested...
Beetle animal totem
Praying mantis animal totem
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Quote:
Posted by
Robin
Hi Limor. :)
It just so happens that I am an Entomologist and stumbled across this thread. What you have there is a
Longhorn beetle. I am unsure of the exact species because I'm not familiar with Israel flora and fauna.
Here are some more photos of different Longhorn beetle species you can browse through.
As far as the praying mantis goes, Selkie is exactly right. They have the ability to camouflage themselves to their surroundings, so that little fella probably spent a lot of time in tall grass (or perhaps a pile of gold at the end of a rainbow ;)).
In case you're interested...
Beetle animal totem
Praying mantis animal totem
About mantises, yeah, I saw a burnt-orange one once. It had been living in a set of burnt-orange curtains, lol.
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Hi Robin, you are the one I was waiting for :) Longhorn indeed, I could detect it at the photos you've attached, thank you for that. There are always immediate connection and direction for those fellows to visit my home which I can not detail here. I wouldn't mind adopting the meaning and symbols presented in the animal totem, however, due to it's large appearence, I find it hard to relate to it as a beatle, even though it's from the same insect family.
There is no tall grass of yellow-gold around my area to justify such a strong golden color,but that is okay, it is wonderful to leave a room for a little mystery
Most helpful, Thanks, Robin ~
(and Selkie)
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Quote:
Posted by
Limor Wolf
Hi Robin, you are the one I was waiting for :) Longhorn indeed, I could detect it at the photos you've attached, thank you for that. There are always immediate connection and direction for those fellows to visit my home which I can not detail here. I wouldn't mind adopting the meaning and symbols presented in the animal totem, however, due to it's large appearence, I find it hard to relate to it as a beatle, even though it's from the same insect family.
There is no tall grass of yellow-gold around my area to justify such a strong golden color,but that is okay, it is wonderful to leave a room for a little mystery
Most helpful, Thanks, Robin ~
(and Selkie)
The mantis also looks like it just molted. They usually appear very shiny after molting their old skin and becoming an adult. But in my opinion, I believe there is more to the way wildlife expresses itself than we traditionally think. This mantis may have simply chosen to exhibit gold coloration because that is what it felt on the inside and it wanted to show off to the world. :)
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Quote:
Posted by
Robin
Hi Limor. :)
It just so happens that I am an Entomologist and stumbled across this thread. What you have there is a
Longhorn beetle. I am unsure of the exact species because I'm not familiar with Israel flora and fauna.
Here are some more photos of different Longhorn beetle species you can browse through.
As far as the praying mantis goes, Selkie is exactly right. They have the ability to camouflage themselves to their surroundings, so that little fella probably spent a lot of time in tall grass (or perhaps a pile of gold at the end of a rainbow ;)).
In case you're interested...
Beetle animal totem
Praying mantis animal totem
Thanks robin, I was going to post to limor a pic of the Asian longhorned beetle... I only recognized it because the city (nyc) sends people out to knock on doors looking for any trace of the Asian longhorned. It's serious business, I guess they want this species out of the city.
Any speculation as to why? Is it just the damage to trees?
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
TRUE FACTS about the mantis. No, really...
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0aSCPmabRpM
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Quote:
Posted by
Saint Theresa
Thanks robin, I was going to post to limor a pic of the Asian longhorned beetle... I only recognized it because the city (nyc) sends people out to knock on doors looking for any trace of the Asian longhorned. It's serious business, I guess they want this species out of the city.
Any speculation as to why? Is it just the damage to trees?
The Longhorn beetle that visited Limor is not the infamous Asian Longhorned beetle. The Asian Longhorned beetle is a nuisance in the United States, and they are an issue because they infest trees by boring through wood and causing destruction to a lot of otherwise healthy trees. They out-compete native wildlife and have an unfair advantage in being able to resist treatment.
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Quote:
Posted by
Robin
Quote:
Posted by
Saint Theresa
Thanks robin, I was going to post to limor a pic of the Asian longhorned beetle... I only recognized it because the city (nyc) sends people out to knock on doors looking for any trace of the Asian longhorned. It's serious business, I guess they want this species out of the city.
Any speculation as to why? Is it just the damage to trees?
The Longhorn beetle that visited Limor is not the infamous
Asian Longhorned beetle. The Asian Longhorned beetle is a nuisance in the United States, and they are an issue because they infest trees by boring through wood and causing destruction to a lot of otherwise healthy trees. They out-compete native wildlife and have an unfair advantage in being able to resist treatment.
Ahh, got it. Yeah I always the inspectors in to check out the trees but never saw any evidence that it was present. I kinda feel bad that they've got their own wanted poster.
http://i.imgur.com/zvwGqjd.jpg
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
Quote:
Posted by
Selkie
That was awesome.
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
A heads up ...
For those interested and living in available viewing areas ...
Coming up later this month ~ the lord of the ant's himself ...
E.O. WILSON - OF ANTS AND MEN | Preview | PBS
Quote:
Premieres Wednesday, September 30, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
An exploration of the remarkable life and groundbreaking ideas of biologist E.O Wilson, founder of the discipline of sociobiology.
Published on Sep 9, 2015
https://youtube.com/watch?v=pSptkKPo5zo
Re: Even in the domain of insects~ uneasy lies the head that wears the crown
will share this here ...
'Fearsome Raisin' Ant Sports Striking Fingerprint Pattern
Note: For more on these amazing creatures - will share this again :thumb:
Quote:
Posted by
giovonni
