Rise of the Argentine Ant Introduced Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are rapidly displacing native ant species around the world as a result of: (1) aggression by frequently raiding, immobilizing and killing native ants, (2) less intraspecific competition due to genetic homogeneity, (3) competitive exclusion using large numbers, quick location and rapid recruitment, (4) and the absence of natural ant and parasitoid enemies. Native to Argentina, L. humile has been quickly spreading throughout
Introduction Ants are excellent at finding new sources of food. They have to be in order to find enough food to feed the whole colony. Worker ants randomly explore a new site until they find something that can be consumed (Deneubourg 1990). A chemical trail is then laid down by the pioneer ant to recruit other ants from the nest to the site of the food (Deneubourg 1990). There are three types of recruitment: tandem recruitment, mass recruitment and group recruitment (Beckers et al. 1989). Both mass
The Observation of Ants Introduction Myrmecology has been around since the late 18th and early 19th century. Myrmecology is derived from the Greek word Murmek, which means ant. There are three main names that are most noteworthy: Linne who produced “Systemae Naturae” which he describes eighteen species of ants. Fabricius created five more genera and further described other species. Latreille was the most significant, he collected and studied the ants of Europe and described many species overlooked
As an example an ant colony foraging in which all agents (ants) interact as a self-organised system knowing their individual roles. Individually ants are unable to solve complex problems which they may face whereas colonies collectively can solve complex problems such as identifying the nearest source of food. Swarm intelligence results in actions that are coordinated without any coordinator or external controller. Natural systems exhibiting swarm intelligence is a colony of ants similar to a flock
WHAT ARE THESE? Ants are eusocial insects, i.e. They have the highest level of organization of animal sociality, belonging from the family Formicidae and, like the wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera, the third largest order of insects. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. What
Chapter 3 OPTIMIZATION 3.1 Introduction Optimization is a chronic and natural process usually witnessed in our daily life events. In various disciplines such as engineering designs, manufacturing systems, agricultural sciences, physical sciences, economics, pattern recognition etc. optimization is observed. Optimization is, thus a process of making best, effective and functional solution out of possible choices no way differs from the structural optimization which is being conceived in the present
many, “an ant on a tablecloth…” Then the ant bumps into a day drowsy moth that is much larger than him. The ant seems a tad bit jealous that the moth lacks the amount of responsibility that ants are burdened with. The ant thinks that if the moth were one of his own race he’d chastise him and send him back to work. He describes how the ant society is much more sophisticated and intellectual than the likes of the moth. Their philosophy is to learn about religion, nature, and space. The ant then being
Ants do for themselves, but for the good of the entire colony. An ant can lift objects twenty times its own weight that is even bigger than its own size (Pest World For Kids). That’s like a small child lifting a car if they were as strong as an ant. Talk about body builders! These tiny insects resemble termites and in many instances are mistaken for them. Ants are about the size of a small paper clip. They have a narrow waist between their thorax and their abdomen, with big heads and an elbowed antennae
In the Pixar movie Antz, there are several sociological concepts thought out the entire film which is based around an ant colony. There are four main points in this movie, sociological ideas of class, culture, societal roles and conflict theory. These four topics are clearly illustrated with myrmecological, to present anyone can be a hero film, which makes our own experience of class struggle, expectations of ideal culture, societal relationships and the struggle for betterment in modern human life
the fictional life of bugs such as ants and grasshoppers. In this movie the ants work together in a very systematic fashion to complete common goals. These goals consisted of harvesting food and protecting the group. The story main features an ant named Flik. Flik is a very innovative ant but struggles to put his ideas to their desired effects. He eventually destroys the colony’s food supply meant to pay off the evil grasshoppers. To rectify this he leaves the colony to find help. The group he finds
project is to keep ants (Monomorium minimum) or also called little black ants, outside of our homes, and to not tempt them to come back in. The physical structure of an ant’s body and the lipid layer covering their exoskeleton makes ants a poor site for bacterial collection. Also, an ant’s saliva is made of antimicrobial agents that help sterilize the ant’s body. (Wicken, D, (April 20, 2006) Even though ants are one of the most sterile species in the world, psychologically ants cause an over whelming
In this analogy for the mind, Hofstadter describes a sophisticated intelligent ant colony composed of automaton ants. It is the way in which these imbecile insects are organized and the way in which they can carry and transmit information on the most basic level which allows for the emergent intelligence and unpredictability of the colony herself. Ants organize themselves into teams due to evolutionary mechanisms of common interest, when there is some environmental
Ant like insects have been inhabiting this world for over 130 million years, evolving into the insects that we recognize today from their wasp-like ancestors. Ants are one of the planet’s most successful insect species at adaptability and have even been referred to as super-organisms. Their adaptive success is due to their hive-mind like structure. This hive-mind like structure allows ants to not only defend themselves effectively from predators but it also allows them to exploit resources and modify
The Ants By Bert Hölldobler And Edward O. Wilson Book Review: Mauricio Bruciaga Hölldobler graduated from the University of Würzburg. He studied biology and chemistry, and his doctoral thesis was on the social behavior of male carpenter ants. Hölldobler has three main theoretical and experimental contributions: sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and chemical ecology. His study subjects are usually insects even more specifically it is ants. Hölldobler now works at Arizona State University
Nepotism in American Business and Politics During the November 2000 presidential elections, two children tried to make daddy proud. First there was Albert Gore Jr. – the son of a powerful and respected senator of Tennessee – who was no stranger to politics and privilege. As a child he attended the prestigious St. Alban’s School and while growing up, it was common to see then Vice President Richard Nixon as a guest at the family dinner table. Then there was George W. Bush – a third-generation
Ants belong to an order of insects called Hymenoptera; this group also includes bees, wasps, and sawflies. They belong to the insect family Formicidae meaning ‘ant family’. There are over 60 genre existing in North America comprising hundreds of different species on this continent alone. There are many different kinds of ants all over the world. Some kinds of ants among the best known are: fire ants, army ants, carpenter ants, driver ants, harvester ants, weaver ants, fungus- gardening ants, aphid-
instead of defining themselves based on who they are on the inside, the people of middle class America define themselves in terms of external image and material possessions. A Bug’s Life is an animated Disney film that tells the story of how a colony of ants fight back against and overcome the domination and oppression of the bullying grasshoppers. When looking at the movie through the lens of Ewen’s theory about identity, several connections concerning identity are found between A Bug’s Life and
forms of power, each being a part of a whole idea on how a leader should act. He must piece together these ideas for the definitive way he should rule as king. In order to teach Wart, Merlin transforms him into several different forms, a fish, hawk, ant, goose and a badger. "‘I wish I was a fish,' said the Wart." (p.45) At that, Wart's first transformation plunged him and Merlin into the castle's moat. They proceeded to meet the largest fish in the moat, who is the ruler. This fish took what he wanted
Andrew Stanton. This movie begins in a colony of ants that is by a tree. The ants are gathering food for the offering. The offering is when ants gather all the food they can before the season. This food is demanded by the Grasshoppers that are led by Hopper. They demand the food from the ants, because that is supposedly the payback they have to pay so that the grasshoppers will not hurt them. Princess Atta and the Queen led the colony and they have commanded the ants to get all the food they can for the
Ants and aphids are two highly common and successful insect groups that often occur in the same habitats which greatly increases their chances of interacting with one another (Stadler and Dixon 2005). The outcome of these interactions can be either negative (predatory) or positive (mutualistic) depending on what each partner can offer to the other (Stadler and Dixon 2005). Mutualism is defined as an interaction between two species that has a reciprocal positive effect on the overall fitness of both