Super Ant Colony Found in Europe

AP - Newsday ^ | 15 Apr 02 | RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

[RightWhale]

WASHINGTON -- A supercolony of ants has been discovered stretching thousands of miles from the Italian Riviera along the coastline to northwest Spain.

It's the largest cooperative unit ever recorded, according to Swiss, French and Danish scientists, whose findings appear in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The colony consists of billions of Argentine ants living in millions of nests that cooperate with one another.

[RightWhale]

And a model of behavior of civilization.

[martin_fierro]

Some one-liners come to mind:

• An even LARGER super-colony of ants resides under my apartment!
• Just wait until the Argentine ants' economy collapses!

[Maedhros]

How do ants fight?

[RightWhale]

How do ants fight?

When their paths cross, they bite off the enemy's legs and heads. It can leave quite a pile of parts.

[Maedhros]

I've also seen pictures of them biting off each other's antennae. I guess that is the equivalent of an eye gouge.

[Scully]

Social evolution ping!

[Nebullis]

Thanks!

I guess it's a "small world" afterall.

More ant news: Ants' Acid Overrunning Oz Crabs

"Crazy ants" are devouring the famous migrating land crabs of Australia's Christmas Island and may have killed off up to half the crab population in the past few years, a conservation official said on Wednesday.

David Slip, government conservator of the remote Indian Ocean outpost, said crazy or long-legged ant infestations exploded into "super colonies" about five years ago, and the acid-squirting ants now dominate a quarter of Christmas Island's rainforest.

[Scully]

acid-squirting ants

And only the strong shall survive.

[BMCDA]

Interesting read and thanks for the ping.

[StriperSniper]

On a side note, Kofi Annan denounced the use of the chemical weapons by the ants and demanded an immediate cease-fire. The ants have not commented.

[Mike Fieschko]

My gosh, one hour 45 minutes, and no 'France surrendered' post. What's wrong with you guys?

[RightWhale]

It is southern France. Not France itself.

[Savage Beast]

You know, this is not surprising. Humans flock to the Cote d'Azur. The ants probably like to lie in the sun, sample the cuisine. Maybe drop in at Monte Carlo, St. Tropez. Everybody loves the Riviera.

[PatrickHenry]

Have these Argentine ants demanded the Falklands back?

[Lady Jag]

That is HUGE! I'll never look at ants the same way again - whatever way that was.

[AndrewC]

The colony consists of billions of Argentine ants living in millions of nests that cooperate with one another.

And we think we have an immigration problem. Think of all the jobs they are taking from the local ants.

[Loyalist]

The ants seem to understand the threat unrestricted immigration poses to Europe better than its human inhabitants.

Forget the Euroweenies; ally with the ants!

[blam]

A little AMDRO works wonders around here.

[Doctor Stochastic]

When will they have mass transportation from nest to nest? Perhaps a very narrow gauge railroad? Has anyone informed the Horned Toads Association yet? Might be a Horned Toad equivalent of Club Med.

[Charles Henrickson]

"Don't cry for me, Argentine ants. . . ."