Re: And so it begins...
YumYumPandaburger
> Please bow down to your insect overlords!
>
> Ant mega-colony takes over world
> BBC - Earth News
>
> Wednesday, 1 July 2009
>
> A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world,
> scientists have discovered.
>
> Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan
> belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one
> another.
>
> The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect
> species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.
>
> What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick
> together.
>
> Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America.
> But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents
> except Antarctica.
>
> These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large
> colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native
> animals and crops.
>
> In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for
> 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in
> the US, known as the "Californian large", extends over 900km (560
> miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on
> the west coast of Japan.
>
> The enormous extent of this population is paralleled only by human
> society
> Entomologists reveal the ant colony's true size
>
> While ants are usually highly territorial, those living within each
> super-colony are tolerant of one another, even if they live tens or
> hundreds of kilometres apart. Each super-colony, however, was thought
> to be quite distinct.
>
> But it now appears that billions of Argentine ants around the world
> all actually belong to one single global mega-colony.
>
> Researchers in Japan and Spain led by Eiriki Sunamura of the
> University of Tokyo found that Argentine ants living in Europe, Japan
> and California shared a strikingly similar chemical profile of
> hydrocarbons on their cuticles.
>
> But further experiments revealed the true extent of the insects'
> global ambition.
>
> The team selected wild ants from the main European super-colony, from
> another smaller one called the Catalonian super-colony which lives on
> the Iberian coast, the Californian super-colony and from the super-
> colony in west Japan, as well as another in Kobe, Japan.
>
> They then matched up the ants in a series of one-on-one tests to see
> how aggressive individuals from different colonies would be to one
> another.
>
> Ants from the smaller super-colonies were always aggressive to one
> another. So ants from the west coast of Japan fought their rivals from
> Kobe, while ants from the European super-colony didn't get on with
> those from the Iberian colony.
>
> One big family
>
> But whenever ants from the main European and Californian super-
> colonies and those from the largest colony in Japan came into contact,
> they acted as if they were old friends.
>
> These ants rubbed antennae with one another and never became
> aggressive or tried to avoid one another.
>
> In short, they acted as if they all belonged to the same colony,
> despite living on different continents separated by vast oceans.
>
> The most plausible explanation is that ants from these three super-
> colonies are indeed family, and are all genetically related, say the
> researchers. When they come into contact, they recognise each other by
> the chemical composition of their cuticles.
>
> "The enormous extent of this population is paralleled only by human
> society," the researchers write in the journal Insect Sociaux, in
> which they report their findings.
>
> However, the irony is that it is us who likely created the ant mega-
> colony by initially transporting the insects around the world, and by
> continually introducing ants from the three continents to each other,
> ensuring the mega-colony continues to mingle.
>
> "Humans created this great non-aggressive ant population," the
> researchers write.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8127000/8127519.stm
TravIsGod
wrote:
Antarctica, here I come!!!
Also going long anteater stock
Trav
hal
wrote:
>> > "Humans created this great non-aggressive ant population," the
>> > researchers write.
>>
>> >http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8127000/8127519.stm
>
>Antarctica, here I come!!!
>
>Also going long anteater stock
you're just saying that because you like sticking your nose in
everybody's business.
>
>Trav
Herbert Cannon
the ants.
Morbius
I wouldnt be surprised if the anteater lobby is somehow behind this
new ant menace.
Well them and the jews right trav?
Slim
> I for one welcome I our new ant overlords. May we be known as the
> planet of the ants.
Bow down and take it up the ant.
--
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis
Herbert Cannon
"Slim" <sl...@pickins.com> wrote in message
news:2009070321582916807-slim@pickinscom...
> On 2009-07-02 15:26:43 -0400, "Herbert Cannon" <hcan...@cox.net> said:
>
>> I for one welcome I our new ant overlords. May we be known as the planet
>> of the ants.
>
> Bow down and take it up the ant.
Step - squash.
Appledog
wrote:
So um, does anyone know any good kung-fu moves versus ants? If they're
swarming, does that count as multiple attackers?
-
Mike
>
> - Show quoted text -
Ya mean like the Zanti Misfits?
Shuurai
> > >http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8127000/8127519.stm
>
> So um, does anyone know any good kung-fu moves versus ants? If they're
> swarming, does that count as multiple attackers?
Magnifying glass.
13 days...
djinn
Flit fu.
Herbert Cannon
"djinn" <dje...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:3034aa86-cc52-4fd7...@y10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
save the day. Stomp stomp.
Appledog
Before you open your big mouth, keep in mind that you owe me money
because I managed to stay away longer than three days back in
January ;-)
-
Dan Winsor
Welcome back, Ollie!
OK, everyone who won the pool?
--
Dan Winsor
Soy un poco loco en el coco.
Shuurai
> > > So um, does anyone know any good kung-fu moves versus ants? If they're
> > > swarming, does that count as multiple attackers?
>
> > Magnifying glass.
>
> > 13 days...
>
> Before you open your big mouth, keep in mind that you owe me money
> because I managed to stay away longer than three days back in
> January ;-)
I don't owe you any money. You wife assured me the coupon was valid.
Shuurai
> > So um, does anyone know any good kung-fu moves versus ants? If they're
> > swarming, does that count as multiple attackers?
>
> Welcome back, Ollie!
>
> OK, everyone who won the pool?
It doesn't count... he was tricked... This thread may not have been
cross-posted, but it's on the same internet as his other groups...
Appledog
I don't understand what you mean.
You never did make any real sense, Shuurai.
-
Shuurai
> > > Before you open your big mouth, keep in mind that you owe me money
> > > because I managed to stay away longer than three days back in
> > > January ;-)
>
> > I don't owe you any money. You wife assured me the coupon was valid.
>
> I don't understand what you mean.
Not surprising... you obviously don't understand a lot of what anybody
means.
> You never did make any real sense, Shuurai.
Do you need a diagram?
Dan Winsor
The one of you and his wife? Dog, no more, please.
Greendistantstar
Thin ice, dude, thin ice.
The Xmas party....the Great Dane....the molasses....how quickly we
forget, hmmmmm?
GDS
"Let's roll!"
Dan Winsor
YumYumPandaburger
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas
Greendistantstar
Mea Culpa...it was Fraser and the camel. The shit people can do with
Photoshop nowadays....
GDS
"Let's roll!"
Dan Winsor
wrote:
Oh, *that* picture? No, that *was* me.
Fraser Johnston
"Greendistantstar" <Greendis...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:4a544cad$0$2821$5a62...@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
That camel was begging for it. Parading around looking like wannabes mum but
cuter. Of course I tapped it.
Fraser