ANTOMATIC

plaster mold of an anthill

A plaster mold of an anthill courtesy of Sean.

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It’s what’s for dinner!

Bugs You Can Eat

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antweb

I think Antweb is a brilliant resource.

Every ant tells a story. AntWeb provides tools for exploring the diversity and identification of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

These tools have been developed to encourage the study of ants, to facilitate the use of ants in inventory and monitoring programs, and to provide ant taxonomists with access to images of type specimens.

Currently AntWeb contains information on the ant faunas of several areas in the Nearctic and Malagasy biogeographic regions, and global coverage of all ant genera.

Antweb is funded from private donations and from grants from the National Science Foundation, DEB-0344731 and EF-0431330.

You can use google earth to plot the ants cataloged on antweb, which is one of my favorite features on the site.

Posted in myrmecology, science! | Comments Off

the tree of life project

The Tree of Life Project is a phenomenal project.

The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists from around the world. On more than 5000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their evolutionary history (phylogeny), and characteristics.

Each page contains information about a particular group of organisms (e.g., echinoderms, tyrannosaurs, phlox flowers, cephalopods, club fungi, or the salamanderfish of Western Australia). ToL pages are linked one to another hierarchically, in the form of the evolutionary tree of life. Starting with the root of all Life on Earth and moving out along diverging branches to individual species, the structure of the ToL project thus illustrates the genetic connections between all living things.

Brew up a fresh cup of coffee and prepare to lose a few hours because this one is addictive.

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“Parasites Morph Ants to Look ‘Berry’ Tasty”

To perpetuate its life cycle, a newly identified parasite morphs its ant victims to such a degree that the infected ants resemble red, ripe juicy berries that birds are more inclined to pick, according to the University of California at Berkeley.

Eggs from the parasite then pass through the unwitting birds when they defecate. Ants consume the waste, become infected, and the whole cycle starts anew.

There are pictures accompanying the above-mentioned Discovery news piece, and they’re really cool. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to read the rest of the research results in the February issue of Systematic Parasitology.

This newly discovered parasite isn’t the only one to exert a novel influence on ants, the article goes on:

Steve Heydon, curator and collections manager at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California at Davis, told Discovery News that “quite a few parasites do weird things to their hosts.”

He shared how one trematode parasite actually exerts a sort of mind control over certain ants, causing the ants to climb up grass stalks, clamp on and basically wait to be eaten. The consumer then poops and starts the trematode’s life cycle again.

Who knew nematodes could be so creative?

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“I don’t think our director would be too happy if we burned down the surrounding subdivisions, but I’d love to torch the savanna.”

Today’s Washington Post has an obituary for Robert Franklin Whitcomb, who was a research entomologist at the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. (That’s the mysterious place you pass on your way up to BWI airport when you’re on the BW Parkway).

(Whitcomb) who identified more than 50 new species of leafhoppers and about 60 new species of microorganisms, died of brain cancer Dec. 21 at Hacienda Rehabilitation and Care Center in Sierra Vista, Ariz. He lived in Sonoita, Ariz.

The article goes on to note some of his contributions to related fields, including ornithology and ecology:

He also was deeply interested in birds, and one of his articles, which applied the ideas of island biogeography to mainland bird populations in the eastern deciduous forest, was considered a landmark study. It led to the current emphasis on the negative effects of forest fragmentation on biota, or all the living organisms of the forest.

He sounded like an interesting character, you should take a moment to go read the whole article.

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Bed Bug Blogs

I give you: Bedbugger, a fascinating single-topic blog on the subject of bedbugs. (Not to be confused with the Bed Bug Blog).

Posted in bed bugs, news | 1 Comment »

“Thousands protest over ant aphrodisiac scheme”

Thousands of people in northeastern China have protested on the streets and surrounded government offices demanding help recovering money from a get-rich-quick scheme to raise ants to make an aphrodisiac tonic.

Hundreds of anti-riot troops and police in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, were deployed to stop protesters reaching the provincial government and Communist Party headquarters, residents said on Wednesday.

….

The unusual origin of this latest uproar was a reminder that even as China’s economy booms, there are pitfalls that can spark discontent from citizens eager for a share of wealth.

Chinese media have said the scheme collected more than 10 billion yuan from hundreds of thousands of Liaoning residents.

[read the whole story]

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Master of the Killer Ants

This week on Nova: Master of the Killer Ants.

Although known for their ruthless aggression, driver ants also have a beneficial side. This is traditionally exploited by the Mofu people of northern Cameroon, who call the local species of red driver ants jaglavak.

…

“Master of the Killer Ants” tells the story of the Mofu’s intimate relationship not only with jaglavak but with other insects. For instance, the people know that a crablike, bright-red insect serves as a harbinger of rain and a sign that it is time to prepare the earth. Winged insects and grasshoppers make a valuable food supplement and are especially tasty when grilled. (For more on edible insects, see Bugs You Can Eat).

[read the entire description]

Check your local listings to see when Nova airs in your area.

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“From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm”

Yesterday’s New York Times Science section has a lengthy article that looks at some of the recent work by mathematical biologists Daniel Grunbaum and Iain Couzin on the instinct to swarm.

If you have ever observed ants marching in and out of a nest, you might have been reminded of a highway buzzing with traffic. To Iain D. Couzin, such a comparison is a cruel insult — to the ants.

Americans spend a 3.7 billion hours a year in congested traffic. But you will never see ants stuck in gridlock.

Army ants, which Dr. Couzin has spent much time observing in Panama, are particularly good at moving in swarms. If they have to travel over a depression in the ground, they erect bridges so that they can proceed as quickly as possible.

“They build the bridges with their living bodies,” said Dr. Couzin, a mathematical biologist at Princeton University and the University of Oxford. “They build them up if they’re required, and they dissolve if they’re not being used.”

The reason may be that the ants have had a lot more time to adapt to living in big groups. “We haven’t evolved in the societies we currently live in,” Dr. Couzin said.

[read the rest of the article]

The graphics that accompany the article are quite interesting, although unfortunately that’s not always obvious from the thumbnails displayed in the margin. Better descriptions would be most helpful.

Technorati Tags: ants

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