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Topic Originator: PARrot
Date: Mon 8 Jul 12:00
Fascinating wee beasties.
I have been watching them in the garden of the new house. I`ve never seen so many.
I laid new decking and disturbed one clan. They started running along the grooves back and forward sorting the damage like a well drilled squad. That went on for hours. Must be all sorted underneath now.
I left a bag of open compost in the greenhouse. I just demolished an old shed in the same area. It was teeming with another clan.
I was potting up some plants and stuck my hand in the bag, and grabbed a handfull. Instantly, my arm was covered in mighty mini warriors. I looked in the bag. I had disturbed a nest. There were eggs scattered all over, and ants frantically picking them up and taking them to safety.
I watched that for ages, too.
Some of them were outside the bag, but that was no obstacle. They relentlessly rescued them, running the equivalent of miles, then climbing and ascending the equivalent of Mount Everest whilst carrying at least their own bodyweight.
Proof that evolution is nonsense. If it was true, I recon ants would rule the world, and they would be entertained by watching pet humans struggle to survive.
Ah! Wait a minute!
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Mon 8 Jul 12:11
All fun and games until the little sods are coming into your house. Take my advice and get some ant killer down. Ants are a nightmare.
Edited to add - it'll be the cockroaches who take over. They survive everything.
Post Edited (Mon 08 Jul 12:12)
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Topic Originator: rikaka
Date: Mon 8 Jul 20:48
Little f*uckers bite. Kill them
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Topic Originator: PARrot
Date: Mon 8 Jul 21:57
Quote:
rikaka, Mon 8 Jul 20:48
Little f*uckers bite. Kill them
I am seriously outnumbered.
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Topic Originator: Tad Allagash
Date: Mon 8 Jul 22:15
I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.
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Topic Originator: AdamAntsParsStripe
Date: Mon 8 Jul 23:06
Don’t tread on an ant, he’s done nothing to you
Zwei Pints Bier und ein Päckchen Chips bitte
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Topic Originator: parsfan
Date: Mon 8 Jul 23:06
Ants are brilliant. If there was some kind of design behind them, rather than an evolutionary process delivering them into the many niches where they thrive, they`d not only clean up the mess I leave over night but do the dishes as well.
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The universe is ruled by chance and indifference
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Topic Originator: PARrot
Date: Tue 9 Jul 01:58
Quote:
jake89, Mon 8 Jul 12:11
All fun and games until the little sods are coming into your house. Take my advice and get some ant killer down. Ants are a nightmare.
Edited to add - it`ll be the cockroaches who take over. They survive everything.
I will indeed keep an eye on the ones near the house.
The jury is out on the Greenhouse Gang, though.
I have read that they kill aphyds and eat their sweet sap. I have also read that they harvest aphyds and kill aphyd predators, so they maintain a supply of sweet sap.
Generally, it is considered they can be a bugger in the house, but do more good than harm in the garden.
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Topic Originator: MikeyLeonard
Date: Tue 9 Jul 09:11
Quote:
AdamAntsParsStripe, Mon 8 Jul 23:06
Don’t tread on an ant, he’s done nothing to you
Indeed AAPS. . . .There might come a day when he`s treading on YOU !
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Topic Originator: PARrot
Date: Tue 9 Jul 12:13
Just realised. If there is only one queen getting royally seen to by all and sundry, are they all brothers and sisters, or are some uncles and aunts
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Topic Originator: Parboiled
Date: Wed 10 Jul 07:34
Ruined Tom and Jerry’s picnic as I recall...
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Topic Originator: JnrB
Date: Thu 11 Jul 07:23
Ants also fascinate me. Re the Queen, they only mate once and store the sperm inside their body that allows them to fertilise eggs throughout their lifespan.
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Topic Originator: Wotsit
Date: Thu 11 Jul 15:16
Emergent behaviour is fascinating. Ant colonies are often described as a single organism made up of many separate parts acting in tandem (just like humans are a single organism made up of many separate cells acting together).
It is pretty strong evidence in support of socialist principles over individualism: the notion that the parts of a society can come together to create something that is much more useful than a load of individuals looking out for themselves.
The enemy travels by private jet, not by dinghy.
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Topic Originator: PARrot
Date: Fri 12 Jul 00:51
Quote:
Wotsit, Thu 11 Jul 15:16
Emergent behaviour is fascinating. Ant colonies are often described as a single organism made up of many separate parts acting in tandem (just like humans are a single organism made up of many separate cells acting together).
It is pretty strong evidence in support of socialist principles over individualism: the notion that the parts of a society can come together to create something that is much more useful than a load of individuals looking out for themselves.
Aye but as long as some ants don`t become more equally organising than others.
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Topic Originator: OzPar
Date: Fri 12 Jul 04:22
I like your analogy, Wotsit. I had never thought of that interpretation, but it is clever.
Here in Oz, we have the most dangerous snakes in the world, the most dangerous sharks, and the most dangerous crocodiles, so inevitably, we have the most dangerous ants. Step forward, the Jack Jumper Ant and the Bull Ant.
These fellas are not to be messed with. They can grow up to 40mm and combine vicious venom in their bite with a highly aggressive personality. Their sting is memorable. I am less than delighted to report that they both thrive in my garden. The Bull Ants come in various colours, most often cherry red, which seems to match their level of anger when I approach them.
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Topic Originator: Andrew283
Date: Fri 12 Jul 11:12
Ants seem incredibly smart until you realise it`s all pheromone based. Watch the idiots death spiral when things go wrong.
Fascinating little creatures to watch though, an almost hive mind and they don`t give a feck over what they try and kill.
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Topic Originator: parsfan
Date: Fri 12 Jul 13:31
Quote:
Andrew283, Fri 12 Jul 11:12
Ants seem incredibly smart until you realise it`s all pheromone based. Watch the idiots death spiral when things go wrong.
Fascinating little creatures to watch though, an almost hive mind and they don`t give a feck over what they try and kill.
As Harry Hill once observed, it`s only when you look at them through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they spontaneously combust.
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The universe is ruled by chance and indifference
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Topic Originator: Andrew283
Date: Fri 12 Jul 14:12
Quite a good metaphor for humanity. Work together to create massive societal structures, defeat far superior prey. Then also blindly follow the blind.
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