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Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

theguardian.com

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Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#21

Post by photonthug »

kirubakaran wrote: post #4
moomoo11 wrote: post #2

Ants are hella cute. Sometimes I would get ants coming into my home, and it was fun watching them try to find food somewhere. I tried to keep it clean. Were these the recon teams sent to find stuff? Sometimes I’d bring them to my desk and it was cool hanging out with some ants. I eventually caved and bought some sugar cubes. They seemed to LOVE them. I chipped them into smaller chunks, and watching ants yeet them on…

This comment makes me wonder if there is an ant equivalent of toxoplasmosis which makes one think that cats are irresistibly cute

Easier for example in Spanish: hormiga, awww. So cute, and it’s even close to amigo. Ants should be friends. I actually feel we are in it together against the cockroaches and spiders.

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#22

Post by zombiemama »

I once saw a spider amputate its own leg. It was severely crippled, only able to move in small circles. Then it suspended itself from a small shelf and started biting off the one leg that was immobile. After it was done it lowered itself on the ground and walked away totally fine.

Since the behaviour seemed very innate I figured that it must be something that happens frequently and is a known phenomenon.

Or maybe ant scientist just don't read spider papers :)

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#23

Post by corytheboyd »

croemer wrote: post #15
corytheboyd wrote: post #10

The ants where I now live are so big that it’s easier to see their more subtle behaviors. About the length of a finger nail. Yeah yeah I’m sure there are bigger ants than that, but I consider that pretty big for an ant! They are fascinating to watch. I often see one ant carrying another, and occasionally see a group of ants trying to get another one unstuck.

Where do you live now?

Colorado mountains, southwest of Denver!

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#24

Post by moomoo11 »

hyperliner wrote: post #7
moomoo11 wrote: post #2

Ants are hella cute. Sometimes I would get ants coming into my home, and it was fun watching them try to find food somewhere. I tried to keep it clean. Were these the recon teams sent to find stuff? Sometimes I’d bring them to my desk and it was cool hanging out with some ants. I eventually caved and bought some sugar cubes. They seemed to LOVE them. I chipped them into smaller chunks, and watching ants yeet them on…

Given how much you liked hanging with ants, I recommend you try spiders in a garden. Look for a spider web where one is hanging, toss a small piece of debris that breaks a little of the web, and watch in awe how they repair it.

Haha. Not a huge fan of spiders, if I see one in my home I’ll catch him and put him outside.

Idk why but I feel really bad for critters. I’m in SF next to a park.

Every morning on my walk if I see a pill bug, a worm or caterpillar, or some other critter on the side walk I’ll grab a leaf and put them back in the park. Don’t want them to get squished :(

Back to spiders tho. I had jumping spiders in my last apartment. Had a really pretty patterned one in my office that would turn and face me whenever I moved. It lived in my blinds for a few weeks and then I never saw it again :(

Had some pet silverfish too. I have a TON of moleskines and I’d feed them old pages.

Sorry I’m probably weird for loving all these little “pests” but I find them really wonderful.

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#25

Post by andoando »

moomoo11 wrote: post #2

Ants are hella cute. Sometimes I would get ants coming into my home, and it was fun watching them try to find food somewhere. I tried to keep it clean. Were these the recon teams sent to find stuff? Sometimes I’d bring them to my desk and it was cool hanging out with some ants. I eventually caved and bought some sugar cubes. They seemed to LOVE them. I chipped them into smaller chunks, and watching ants yeet them on…

Ants are the only bugs I dont mind having around. Sometimes I get hundreds of them in my kitchen and sometimes just sit and watch them lol

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#26

Post by ThunderSizzle »

pram wrote: post #16

I also recently learned that ants remove deceased workers from their nest, and dump their corpses somewhere else. Source: my office carpet

I went down a YT ant rabbit hole years ago. On top of that, most garbage collection ants seem to be ants that are close to death, so that when they die, they are near the garbage/disposal area anyway, and might not even need to be carried there when they die.

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#28

Post by sitkack »

yosito wrote: post #5

> The nest mates then proceeded to repeatedly bite the injured leg until it was cut off More evidence in favor of ants being the cause of the zombie apocalypse.

Kinda true, they are getting predated on by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis

Existential fear warning https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/zombie-ant-fungi-kno...

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#29

Post by sitkack »

hyperliner wrote: post #7
moomoo11 wrote: post #2

Ants are hella cute. Sometimes I would get ants coming into my home, and it was fun watching them try to find food somewhere. I tried to keep it clean. Were these the recon teams sent to find stuff? Sometimes I’d bring them to my desk and it was cool hanging out with some ants. I eventually caved and bought some sugar cubes. They seemed to LOVE them. I chipped them into smaller chunks, and watching ants yeet them on…

Given how much you liked hanging with ants, I recommend you try spiders in a garden. Look for a spider web where one is hanging, toss a small piece of debris that breaks a little of the web, and watch in awe how they repair it.

I rarely go through this part of the basement, I spilled about a table spoon of water on the floor and I come back 10 minutes later and a giant 7cm leg span Wolf spider was drinking from the newly formed puddle. Now I make sure there is plenty of water available in the basement.

Re: Ants can carry out life-saving amputations on injured nest mates, study shows

#30

Post by AlexandrB »

croemer wrote: post #19
kirubakaran wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment makes me wonder if there is an ant equivalent of toxoplasmosis which makes one think that cats are irresistibly cute

I think what you're saying is an urban legend. Do you have a credible source for the statement that toxoplasmosis makes one think cats are incredibly cute?

I think it's hyperbole of this: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.13777
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