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Heroic altruistic ants face death alone to save colony
bbc ^ | 15 February 2010 | Matt Walker

Posted on 02/20/2010 5:05:13 PM PST by JoeProBono

Ants live altruistically, but some die altruistically too.

When ants of the species Temnothorax unifasciatus get sick, they abandon their nest, walking far away from their relatives to die alone.

They perform this act of heroism to prevent the illness that is killing them from spreading to the colony.

The discovery, published in Current Biology, is the first time that such behaviour has been shown in ants or any other social insect.

Professor Jurgen Heinze and PhD student Bartosz Walter decided to investigate the ants' behaviour after becoming interested in anecdotal reports of dying individuals deserting their families.

The workers left the nest voluntarily and were not carried away

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals; Science
KEYWORDS: ants; healthcare; jpb; obamacare
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To: gundog

“It should be noted that worker ants are non-reproductive.
Kinda like the 50 odd million Chinese men who can’t find a wife?


21 posted on 02/20/2010 5:31:05 PM PST by Farmer Dean (every time a toilet flushes,another liberal gets his brains)
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To: JoeProBono

22 posted on 02/20/2010 5:33:21 PM PST by paulycy (Demand Constitutionality.)
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To: paulycy

23 posted on 02/20/2010 5:35:40 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: SunkenCiv

24 posted on 02/20/2010 5:37:43 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: BRL

25 posted on 02/20/2010 5:48:49 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: pnh102

“The model for 0bamacare.”

I was going to say that!

That is what crossed my mind as I was reading about this — let the sick go away and die.


26 posted on 02/20/2010 5:50:01 PM PST by SmartInsight
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To: JoeProBono

When these godless ants built their little towers of Babel, I like to go knock them down and scatter them around. Ants really suck.


27 posted on 02/20/2010 5:57:14 PM PST by BRL
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To: BRL

28 posted on 02/20/2010 5:58:36 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: JoeProBono

So how do we know the ant’s motives? Labeling the behavior “heroic” and “altruistic” seems a bit over the top, but then it is the BBC....


29 posted on 02/20/2010 6:26:05 PM PST by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
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To: Trod Upon


30 posted on 02/20/2010 6:29:02 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Notwithstanding

Or whatever little disease they have enters their little brain and it gets fried. Then, insect, without a good brain, wanders away from the rest of the colony. Not thinking about God, or his grander purpose. Just wondering what all of the hullabloo about sex was. Then they die.

Sounds more like it.


31 posted on 02/20/2010 6:47:52 PM PST by Vermont Lt (I do not live in Vermont. I did for four years and that was plenty.)
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To: stormer

Great movie. Joan Weldon is hot!


32 posted on 02/20/2010 9:24:57 PM PST by John-Irish ("Shame of him who thinks of it''.)
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To: BRL

Sorry you feel the way you do. Without these industrious little buggers this would be a virtually sterile and dead world.


33 posted on 02/20/2010 9:28:22 PM PST by John-Irish ("Shame of him who thinks of it''.)
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To: John-Irish

Lady scientist, eh? Hmmm...

34 posted on 02/20/2010 9:48:22 PM PST by stormer
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To: Notwithstanding

Isn’t this a bit like Kamikaze pilots giving their lies to save their empire? Is this really a good thing?


35 posted on 02/21/2010 12:13:12 AM PST by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: txhurl; basil

Yes, we had lots of problems with fire ants getting into the AC contacts too. I finally put some (no longer available) ant killer into the contact box. That stopped them from shorting it out.

I heard Club Soda will kill fire ants. Just pour it onto the mound and it takes out all the oxygen so the ants die. I will try that this year.


36 posted on 02/21/2010 5:21:47 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Hey zero, It is NOT Bush's fault anymore.)
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To: stormer

Hmmmmm indeed. Joan Weldon had a bit of a career in ‘50’s sci/fi films. In addition to “Them’’ she was in “Earth versus The Flying Saucers’’ and “Creature from The Black Lagoon’’. Joan lookin real good in a swim suit. Love that wasp-waist, foundation-wear look of the ‘50’s.


37 posted on 02/21/2010 8:08:33 AM PST by John-Irish ("Shame of him who thinks of it''.)
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To: John-Irish
I wonder what happened to my picture? Oh well. Earth vs. Flying Saucers is one of my favorites. My nephew and I watched it before I took him on a trip to Washington, DC so he could get an idea about all the landmarks. (He didn't bite on my assertion that the reason there is a color change in the stone in the Washington Monument is because of the repairs made after it was hit by a saucer, but I'm sure the people that overheard me telling him that pondered my sanity.) And while your heart is in the right place, it was Joan Taylor in E vs FS and Julie Adams looking so smoking hot in The Creature.

For what it's worth, I think Julie Adams is almost a dead ringer for Brooke Shields.

38 posted on 02/21/2010 9:38:10 AM PST by stormer
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To: Arrowhead1952
I heard Club Soda will kill fire ants. Just pour it onto the mound and it takes out all the oxygen so the ants die. I will try that this year.

Hmmm. I may try that too.

I've been mixing icing sugar with baking soda, and have had pretty good luck with that. They eat it, and explode.

39 posted on 02/21/2010 9:48:31 AM PST by fanfan (Why did they bury Barry's past?)
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To: stormer

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it was Weldon. Another hot actress of that time was Mara Corday Check her out. You know, given the nature of things today I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those folks at The Washington Monument probably thought you were right! :-) Brooke wished she looked as good as Julies Adams did. GRRRRRRR!! Hubbba Hubba!!(wolf whistles)


40 posted on 02/21/2010 10:14:36 AM PST by John-Irish ("Shame of him who thinks of it''.)
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