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Super Ant Colony Found in Europe
AP ^

Posted on 04/15/2002 7:44:32 PM PDT by newsperson999

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.

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.

The Argentine ants were accidentally introduced to Europe around 1920, probably in ships carrying plants, Keller said in an interview via electronic mail.

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.

"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.

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."

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.


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1 posted on 04/15/2002 7:44:32 PM PDT by newsperson999
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To: newsperson999
Transplant it to the middle east.
2 posted on 04/15/2002 7:46:07 PM PDT by RWCon
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To: RWCon
ants for allah?
3 posted on 04/15/2002 7:47:00 PM PDT by Nachum
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: newsperson999
"The colony consists of billions of Argentine ants living in millions of nests that cooperate with one another. "

Aiy! Dios mio!

RAID!


5 posted on 04/15/2002 7:54:28 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts
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To: newsperson999
From the headline I was just expecting another article about the expansion of the EU....
6 posted on 04/15/2002 7:55:59 PM PDT by 11B3
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To: newsperson999
This reminds me of the movie, "Barcelona"...where the conservative guy is trying to explain to the leftist Spaniards the battle between communism and democracy.....by using ants,,,,,,,of course the black ants crush the red ants.....funny political movie with the mid 80s twist......a fun lighthearted movie Freepers will like
7 posted on 04/15/2002 7:56:23 PM PDT by rbmillerjr
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To: newsperson999
A colony should have one queen so I don't get this article.
8 posted on 04/15/2002 8:01:30 PM PDT by dennisw
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To: newsperson999
Where's the chlorodane? We had better be careful or they will be on the endangered species list.
9 posted on 04/15/2002 8:13:28 PM PDT by Pushi
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Screw RAID....This stuff is da bomb!

Here in Western PA, I've been taking out Sattelite Carpenter Ant colonies left and right..If it's that good on American ant's, imagine what it can do to euro-weenie ants!!

10 posted on 04/15/2002 8:17:19 PM PDT by Michael Barnes
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To: newsperson999
Mankind could take a lesson from these ants.....
11 posted on 04/15/2002 8:28:23 PM PDT by tracer
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To: newsperson999
All that formication, in Europe! EWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
12 posted on 04/15/2002 8:29:18 PM PDT by mlibertarianj
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To: newsperson999
Them!

CALL OUT THE ORKIN ARMY!!!!


13 posted on 04/15/2002 8:31:49 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler
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To: newsperson999
I'm starting to feel itchy.
14 posted on 04/15/2002 8:33:58 PM PDT by Vicki
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To: newsperson999
The EU has found the perfect symbol for the goal of the elite social planners - the world largest ant hill.
15 posted on 04/15/2002 8:35:06 PM PDT by DManA
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To: newsperson999
BREAKING NEWS!!!!

AP reporting that France has surrendered to this superior army of ants!

16 posted on 04/15/2002 8:37:18 PM PDT by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: newsperson999
It's the EU-- Europeant Union
17 posted on 04/15/2002 8:37:49 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: newsperson999
King Solomon said: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
18 posted on 04/15/2002 9:01:21 PM PDT by arielb
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To: RWCon
You will be assimilated, resistance is futile.
19 posted on 04/15/2002 9:12:13 PM PDT by AngrySpud
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To: newsperson999
Have the French surrendered yet?
20 posted on 04/15/2002 9:15:22 PM PDT by 3catsanadog
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