Ants know who's who...

Pseudomyrmex triplarinus, a ant species found in the Peruvian rainforest, lives in the tree species Triplaris americana. The ants tunnel into the tree and use it as a "shelter and sustenance." In return for providing the ants these comforts, the ants will protect the tree from invaders, including other plants. These ants use chemical indicators to tell the difference between the host trees there living in and any competitor plants nearby. The ants use the surface wax on each tree to distinguish between the plants. Once a competitor plant is recognized, it is marked with a chemical to tell others to prune the competing plant. By pruning a plant that may compete for resources from the host plant, the ants guarantee the host plants survival. This symbiotic relationship with the trees was studies by scientists at Colorado State University. Two different experiments were done to "demonstrate how ants inhabiting the branches of T. americana trees recognize species-specific chemical signals embedded in the leaf surface." The scientists took a single T. americanan host tress and surrounded it by different species of trees. Over five weeks, researchers observed the ant behavior in pruning the trees. Also, they took leaves from several different species of trees (but also including the leafs of the T. americana), and attached them to the host tree with pins. Overall, the ants removed more leafs (pruned) that did not belong to the T. americana host tree. Researchers also wanted to know how specific the ants were in pruning non host trees. The took filter paper coated with the T. americana tree wax extract and its closely related species T. poeppigiana. Over observation, the ants attacked vigorously with those filters coated with the T. americana wax extracts. This shows that the ants are highly specific in the host tree and not even closely related trees can a pass. However, it also verified that the chemical that tells the ants which tree is which is located in the wax substance coating the leafs.

Source: "Rainforest Species Use Chemicals to Identify Which Plants to Prune." Red Orbit. RedOrbit. 13 May. 2011. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Image Source: Nijenhuis, Peter. "Heavy Load." Flickr. June, 2006. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Zombie Fungus.

People around the world are always interested in the mystery of the rainforest, and its great biodiversity. However, scientists have discovered four new species of fungi in the rainforest's of Brazil. These are not just any kind of fungi. These fungi attack specific species of insects, here we will look at ants. At the University of Pennsylvania, Assistant Professor David Hughes found that the species Ophiocordyceps unliateralis was found to live on four different species of carpenter ants. Once infected, the ants will show signs of infection is about one week. These signs are related to a "zombie effect." The ants are disoriented, confused, and there minds are slowly being taken over. The infection target the ants brain and forces the ant to go up. The research involved found that most ants will climb and attach to a plant at about 9.8 inches above the ground. The humidity was found to be around 95 percent. These are the ideal environmental conditions for the fungus to grow and spread. The infection uses the height and wind to help carry the fungus to other hosts. It is interesting how the fungus uses the ant to find the ideal spot that the fungus can grow. After reaching the idea spot, the ant will attach with its mandibles to the plant, and die. The fungus will begin to grow right out of the head of the ant. It can take about three weeks for the fungus to completely grow. After reaching its maximum growth, spores will open and release tiny fragments of the infection. Any ant(s) found in the vicinity are at great risk of infection. This is a great population control. If any ant species becomes to large or to powerful, it is at greater risk of becoming infected with the fungus, thus lowering its population. The fungus itself can kill entire colonies of ants, making it a very effective population control. Any ideas of this being a good pest control? The article states it would most likely not be ideal since the fungi are only effective to particular species and need perfect environmental conditions to grow.


Text source: Osborne, Darren. "Deadly Fungus Turns Ants into Zombies." Discovery News. Discovery Communications. 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Video Source: FreeScienceLectures. "Cordyceps Fungus." Youtube. 3 May. 2007. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Ants millions of years ago...revealed.

Until recently, the history of ants was unknown for the most part. Even though these creatures are found in almost every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth, little is known about there past. Research done at Harvard University by biologist Corrie Moreau and Naomi Pierce has shed light on the past of these brilliant organisms. Originating 140-168 million years ago, ants are now believed to have diversified only about 100 million years ago. This happens to be around the same time that plants began to flower. The research involved took the DNA sequence of six genes from around 139 different ant genera. Using 139 different genera's means the used almost every subfamily of ants around the world, making there results more accurate than a smaller sample would be. Additionally, using the "molecular clock," the scientist took 43 different fossils from the ant family tree (different ant species throughout time), and used the fossil data collected to better understand key events in the evolution of ants themselves. The biggest event is when flowering plants began to take off and diversify. This allowed the ants to diversify because they used the herbivorous insects as a food source. These insects evolved with the flowering plants, diversifying the insect world, thus giving ants a much greater food source. It is important to note that the flowering plants most likely allowed multiple organisms to diversify. Still, it was found the subfamily Leptanillinae (the species that we know very little about) as being the most ancient. This would make sense that since they are the most ancient there would be much less known about them. Humans are one step closer to understanding the organism that rules most of the terrestrial environment today. You must understand the history and past of an organism to better understand it today.

Text source: "Ancient Ants Arose 140-168 Million Years Ago; Insects Needed Flowering Plants To Flourish." ScienceDaily. The National Science Foundation. 7 Apr. 2006. Web. 13 May 2011.

Picture source: El-Showk, Sedeer. Sisyphean ant. 22 Aug. 2009. Picture. Flickr. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Fire Ants Breaking Law of Physics [part 2]

Researchers took a raft structure made of thousands of ants (like one seen in the wild floating down the river) and dropped them into liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen froze every ant, their position, and the overall structure exactly in their place. However, while it froze the ants themselves, it also froze the tiny air bubbles located inside the structure, between the ants themselves. Using an electron microscope, researchers took the raft apart ant by ant. By doing this, they said "We were surprised at just how waterproof raft was -- its ability to repel water and keep afloat" (Gammon). Does anyone else think this experiment was quite clever. I was wondering how you would be able to examine a ant raft without disturbing them. Liquid nitrogen makes sense at it would literally freeze them within a second (or less), keeping in tact the structure itself. It was interesting to note that researchers noted that by adding soap to water the raft was in, would reduce the surface tension and would sink the raft. This is no surprise at it also works if you put a paper clip in water (which will float on the water tension), but with added soap there is much less water tension (the paper clip sinks). Also, apparently the queen can sometimes be found on the raft as well. When the queen is located on the raft, a tighter ball of ants surrounds her, protecting her. It amazes me the waterproof ability of these ants. They are able to make the structure float and be completely waterproof.

Source: Gammon, Katharine. "Fire Ants Assemble as a 'Super-Organism.'" Inside Science News Service. Fox News. 25 April 2011. Web. 26 April 2011.

Picture source: Rifdhan. Fire Ants. 27 Apr. 2011. Picture. Flickr. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Fire Ants breaking law of physics? [PART 1]

Have you ever wondered how ants can float in water? Many have observed ants (whether on t.v. or real life) ants connecting together to make a raft of some kind, with hundreds of other ants collecting on top. With the entire raft made of ants, and its passengers made of ants, do you ever think about how they do this? Ants outer bodies (exoskeletons) are naturally hydrophobic, or repel water. A single ant can float across the top of the water because of the surface water tension and the ants ability to trap air bubbles near its body. These air bubbles are hard to see, usually located underneath the body. However researchers began to look at those ants that link up together, during a floor for example. How do these ants still float when the physics says their combined body weight should make them sink? Looking at floating fire ants in South America, researches found that when fire ants link up (grabbing each others legs with a force 400 times their body) they are somehow able to collect tiny air bubbles between their mandibles (front legs). Although their combined weight should make them sink, the added air bubbles allow them to float, like a giant raft. You may think "well what about the ants on the bottom, wouldn't they drown?" No, it turns out that those on the bottom stay on the surface of the water and when they do get submerged, the ants flex their grip in unison, causing the bottom ants to return to the surface to breath. In the next part of this post, I will explain how the researches experimented with how the ants did this (it is pretty interesting). I mean, how would you observe a raft full of thousands of ants floating down a river?

Source: Gammon, Katharine. "Fire Ants Assemble as a 'Super-Organism.'" Inside Science News Service. Fox News. 25 April 2011. Web. 26 April 2011.

Attraction of electricity?

It has been found that fire ants are known to be "attracted" to electricity. Why would anyone or anything be attracted to electricity? These little creatures have been known in different parts of the country and world to invade different electrical units. These units include traffic lights, household electrical meters, circuit boxes, and other outside electrical units. They will gather in the hundreds over these electrical areas, causing area damage to power lines and units. It has been studied by the Texas A&M University have found that it is the actual electrical fields that the ants are drawn to. Many, including me, would have thought that maybe it would be caused by some magnetic field but they have ruled that this theory. When the ants come in contact with the electricity, it usually does not kill them. In fact, they will abandon there search for food and water for days just to feed there craving for electrical fields. This can cause many of them to starve to death. While the researchers have figured what exactly the ants are attracted to they still have no idea why. What could possible make a ant ignore all survival signals (hunger, thirst, scents to do work) simply to "play around" with some electricity? Perhaps they get some kind of stimulant from it, like a drug. What is deadly to us may be stimulating to them. No matter what the reason is, we know fire ants will continue to invade our electrical devices, causing damage, just to feed their attraction.

Source: Weiss, Rick. "Ants get a transformation charge-why ants invade outdoor electrical equipment." Science Service, Inc. BNET. 1989. Web. 25 April 2011.

Communication is wild

We have known for a long time how ant communication works, for the most part. First, ants can communicate via touch, smell, and even vibrations (sound). However, most ants use chemical communication or pheromones. These chemicals are released from the rear end of the abdomen. These chemicals can have different meaning, depending on the species. Some tell each other of a food source, while others indicate danger. They also use these chemicals to decipher between each other. This decipher can be a signal of what cast a particular ant is in a particular colony. For example, a queen ant gives off a special scent, or chemical, to indicate to the other workers that she is the queen. Also, it helps eliminate other species of ants from wondering into the colony, because the guard ants will immediately notice this ant has a different scent. In the first video, an experiment is done showing how ants will lay a sporadic trail of pheromones until they find a food source. That single ant will then consume as much of the ant source as possible to take back to give to the other ants as evidence almost. On the return journey, the ant no longer will lay a sporadic trail but a continuous one, much more solid and more easy to follow. Also, the strength of the chemical refers to its importance. The more important the issue is, the stronger the chemical. If there is a big threat to the colony, ants will release a strong chemical compound to signal the danger, and that the danger is extreme. This can be related to humans as well for a example. In gas there is a chemical that smells like rotten eggs, to tell people when their gas is running without being burnt. If someone smells a light odor of this chemical "rotten egg" smell, they know they must have recently forgot to turn off the gas (not that big of a deal). However, if you walk into your house and the gas smell is extremely strong, you know you have real potential problem (explosion). In the NOVA video, I want to try that experiment of taking a fire ant and creating a chemical trail on a piece of paper, thus "communicating with the ants." Any ideas on how ants keep track of all these different odors. I mean I would imagine its like being in a room full of people talking at the same time. You can not really understand whats being said unless you focus on one person. Maybe ants are also overwhelmed by every ant laying scents that they only focus on the strongest ones, the important ones.



Source:

Gibson, Roberta. "Questions About Ant Pheromones." Wild About Ants. Wordpress. Jun 27, 2010. Web. April 17, 2011.

Derbyshire, David. "Getting it off their chest: Study reveals how ants talk to each other." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers. Feb 7, 2009. Web. 17 April 2011.

Video Source: "NOVA | Lord of the Ants | The Ant Whisperer | PBS." 19 May 2008. Youtube. Web. 18 April 2011.

"How Ants Communicate With Each Other?" 5 Feb 2009. Youtube. Web. 18 April 2011.