Grass-cutting ants build gigantic nests - underground cities where up to seven million insects live and tend a fungal garden that feeds their young.Ant really are remarkable examples of what evolution can produce. Starting with individualistic, flying, free living, wasp like creatures, they've evolved into species where most of the individual no longer fly, no longer reproduce, live largely underground in huge numbers in a colony where they serve the needs of the the very few individuals in it who do reproduce. And they've been wildly successful, evolving to meet habitats all over the world, at least the above water, and not completely frozen portions.
Scientists have now discovered how the ants build nests that stay at the right temperature for this precious fungus to grow. The ants build porous turrets, specifically to ventilate the nests.
A study, reported in the Journal of Insect Behaviour, has revealed how they manage this feat.
They gave the ants three building materials: clay, coarse sand and fine sand, and tested the insects' building techniques by regularly changing the amount of each material that was available to them. They even simulated rain damage to the nest by pouring water on to the structure.
"When [the ants] finished a turret, we analysed the arrangement of the building materials [under] the microscope," Dr Cosarinsky told BBC Nature. This revealed that, whatever materials they used, the ants always made turret walls that were highly porous and allowed air to flow through.
I guess 'Little Wing' embedded in there is just a bonus; unless it refers to vestigial ant wings.
No comments:
Post a Comment