Posted on 09/06/2002 5:12:31 PM PDT by vannrox
[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 4/15/02 ] The Associated Press 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 Argentine ants were accidentally introduced to Europe around 1920, probably in ships carrying plants, Keller said in an interview via electronic mail. "It may be that certain ant colonies will bud off, form satellites and remain connected with one main colony," he suggested. The European researchers said that in addition to the main supercolony of ants they found a second, smaller but also large colony of Argentine ants in Spain's Catalonia region. However, in the long run the very cooperation that seems to make them successful could lead to the supercolony's self-destruction, he suggested. That's because in such a giant colony many workers are unrelated to the queens they help to raise. "Thus, in the long term, selection should decrease the altruistic behavior of workers," he said, because their efforts are not helping transmit copies of their genes via related queens.
Researchers find 3,600-mile ant supercolony
Millions of nests form network stretching from Italy to Spain
WASHINGTON -- A supercolony of ants has been discovered stretching thousands of miles from the Italian Riviera along the coastline to northwest Spain.
The colony consists of billions of Argentine ants living in millions of nests that cooperate with one another.
Normally, ants from different nests fight. But the researchers concluded that ants in the supercolony were all close enough genetically to recognize one another, despite being from different nests with different queens.
Cooperating allows the colonies to develop at much higher densities than normally would occur, eliminating some 90 percent of other types of ants that live near them, said Laurent Keller of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Richard D. Fell, an entomologist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, said Argentine ants have been known to form large colonies -- the size of several city blocks, for example -- but he had not heard of any as large as that cited in the new report.
When ants of the two supercolonies were placed together they invariably fought to the death, while ants from different nests of the same supercolony showed no aggression to one another.
"It is interesting to see that introduction in a new habitat can change social organization," Keller said of the behavior of Argentine ants that had been relocated to Europe. "In this case, this leads to the greatest cooperative unit ever discovered."
Yeah, it's called the EU. This is news?
Can unions be far behind???? NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) weapons?? These little skanks are up to NO good, I tell you, and we'd best keep one sharp eye on 'em, by gum.
Quick, put them on an endangered species list and we can shut down half of Europe.
I bet that really bugs you!
| Phase IV (1974) The ants go marching one by one, until the desert is overrun, in this provocative science-fiction story about ecological disaster in Arizona and how the area's ants band together to attack people. Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy star. 86 min. Director: Saul Bass Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy
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RALPH: Nat!
ALICE: Norton, Nat is spelled with a "G". The word you want is "Ant".
RALPH: Put down, Nat!
NORTON: I gotta admit, Alice, I work with Nat Birnbaum down in the sewar. He don't spell it with a "G".
That's because in such a giant colony many workers are unrelated to the queens they help to raise. "Thus, in the long term, selection should decrease the altruistic behavior of workers," he said, because their efforts are not helping transmit copies of their genes via related queens.
I disagree with this reasoning. The reason the colony is able to grow so large and and still be cooperative is the inbreeding of the colonies. There are no other Argentine ant colonies close enough to the super colony to interbreed with. Therefor no genetic diversity.
The two super colonies will grow larger until they come close enough for their flying queens and drones to inter breed. Or it is possible that their lack of genetic diversity will cause the colony to succumb to a disease or parasitic infection that will wipe out the entire gene line in one blow.
Lately I just use a quart sprayer bottle with a couple of "glugs" of Diazinone in it. That seems to disagree with them too...
"Shoot the anteniii!"
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