She is such a good mother.
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@pawpower @futurebird the video is a short clip of a brown-colored ant shot through a clear surface. its legs are splayed wide and its antennae curiously explore as it slurps up droplets of liquid on the surface while jaunty instrumental music plays. another ant scurries behind it, perpendicular to the star of the show, who then drops down, revealing that it was against a wall the whole time.
@dank @futurebird You're both really great at describing videos thank you so much
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Queen ants are not always good at hiding.
@futurebird
I found a quite large ant on my basement floor, just sitting there not moving around. I don't know what species, but I wondered if it might be a queen since it was bigger than other ants I see around here.I thought she (just remembered the correct pronoun!) might be dead, but when I put a paper next to her, she walked a little. So I took her outside and put her next to a tree where I haven't seen any ants, just in case maybe she was a queen and not dying. Probably a futile effort but ya never know.
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She is such a good mother. I’m still in shock that she was going to try and live under my keyboard.
When I found her she was “hiding” but like most queens she wasn’t aware of how big she is and her gaster was visible giving her away.
She is now in a luxury NYC ant condo.
@futurebird Did you just *discover* a queen in the process of moving in to your home? And she is now a pet queen? I think maybe you got played. Check Pica's bank accounts for any recent deposits that could have possibly been laundered out of ant-commodity trading. Aphid honeydew, perhaps?
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@futurebird Did you just *discover* a queen in the process of moving in to your home? And she is now a pet queen? I think maybe you got played. Check Pica's bank accounts for any recent deposits that could have possibly been laundered out of ant-commodity trading. Aphid honeydew, perhaps?
The whole thing was VERY 'sus' and the kids would say.
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The whole thing was VERY 'sus' and the kids would say.
@futurebird @log I think you need to add "Ant real estate broker" to Pica's business card.
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@futurebird @log I think you need to add "Ant real estate broker" to Pica's business card.
I know ya'll think my house is full of random ants but it's not. This ant came and found me like she was on a mission.
I even asked my husband if he planted her there.
(he just looked very confused and said "where would I get a queen ant?" ... indeed)
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@futurebird @log Of course not. PIca runs a high-end portfolio of properties; crowding would decrease the value.
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She is such a good mother. I’m still in shock that she was going to try and live under my keyboard.
When I found her she was “hiding” but like most queens she wasn’t aware of how big she is and her gaster was visible giving her away.
She is now in a luxury NYC ant condo.
@futurebird what is the first thing a queen does, dig a nest or start laying eggs?
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@futurebird what is the first thing a queen does, dig a nest or start laying eggs?
She must find a safe place to nest first and seal herself in... then she will lay eggs.
When you put a queen ant in a test tube she will at first be distressed to be trapped... but then after about a day she forgets how she got there assumes it must be the nest she made and starts laying eggs and raising young ants.
Ants are very smart for small insects... but there are limits.
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She must find a safe place to nest first and seal herself in... then she will lay eggs.
When you put a queen ant in a test tube she will at first be distressed to be trapped... but then after about a day she forgets how she got there assumes it must be the nest she made and starts laying eggs and raising young ants.
Ants are very smart for small insects... but there are limits.
@futurebird your ant queen cleaning her eggs has me wondering how a colony bootstraps itself -- how much work can/does the queen do before her workers can take over. I assume the queen doesn't typically clean eggs or dig tunnels herself. What about hunting, foraging, or fighting, whatever else an ant does...
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She is such a good mother. I’m still in shock that she was going to try and live under my keyboard.
When I found her she was “hiding” but like most queens she wasn’t aware of how big she is and her gaster was visible giving her away.
She is now in a luxury NYC ant condo.
@futurebird
My gaster is always sticking out, too. -
@futurebird your ant queen cleaning her eggs has me wondering how a colony bootstraps itself -- how much work can/does the queen do before her workers can take over. I assume the queen doesn't typically clean eggs or dig tunnels herself. What about hunting, foraging, or fighting, whatever else an ant does...
In most ants the queen has such a large body, so much in fat reserves that she is able to dig a small nest and raise the first 3 or 4 workers without eating at all. Once they are up and running they do the first foraging. At this stage the queen will still help with cleaning the eggs, but soon she starts to focus on laying eggs only. Another function of the queen in young colonies is as a refrigerator. The foragers bring her food, fill her up. She can hold as much as a honey pot.
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@futurebird your ant queen cleaning her eggs has me wondering how a colony bootstraps itself -- how much work can/does the queen do before her workers can take over. I assume the queen doesn't typically clean eggs or dig tunnels herself. What about hunting, foraging, or fighting, whatever else an ant does...
The very first workers are often very small... they have a special name "nantics" ... they are very shy and seem aware of how precarious their colony is at this stage.
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In most ants the queen has such a large body, so much in fat reserves that she is able to dig a small nest and raise the first 3 or 4 workers without eating at all. Once they are up and running they do the first foraging. At this stage the queen will still help with cleaning the eggs, but soon she starts to focus on laying eggs only. Another function of the queen in young colonies is as a refrigerator. The foragers bring her food, fill her up. She can hold as much as a honey pot.
There are some species of ants where the queen will go out and hunt for food during the early days, but those that lock themselves in are more typical.
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There are some species of ants where the queen will go out and hunt for food during the early days, but those that lock themselves in are more typical.
@futurebird @gooser3000 I love the word "Nanitic" to refer to that first brood of workers a queen raises to do the initial foraging. As I understand it from watching Ants Canada, they are quite a bit smaller and very cute! The only problem is I keep getting it confused with Niantic, the location data company that also makes Pokemon Go.
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@futurebird @gooser3000 I love the word "Nanitic" to refer to that first brood of workers a queen raises to do the initial foraging. As I understand it from watching Ants Canada, they are quite a bit smaller and very cute! The only problem is I keep getting it confused with Niantic, the location data company that also makes Pokemon Go.
@futurebird @gooser3000 even worse, "Niantic" has the word "ant" hidden inside, while Nanitic does not!
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@futurebird @gooser3000 I love the word "Nanitic" to refer to that first brood of workers a queen raises to do the initial foraging. As I understand it from watching Ants Canada, they are quite a bit smaller and very cute! The only problem is I keep getting it confused with Niantic, the location data company that also makes Pokemon Go.
@semitones @futurebird there's a relatively recent genre of "survival" games where you're shipwrecked and have to bootstrap whatever you need to survive (gather some sticks and a rock to make an axe and start chopping down trees to make shelter, etc.). Maybe we'll get an ant queen survival sim someday.
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@semitones @futurebird there's a relatively recent genre of "survival" games where you're shipwrecked and have to bootstrap whatever you need to survive (gather some sticks and a rock to make an axe and start chopping down trees to make shelter, etc.). Maybe we'll get an ant queen survival sim someday.
There are a few good ant colony games, but not one that really captures the tight margins of early colony life.
Do you lay another egg and try to raise one more worker, or hope that the two you have can find more food first?
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@futurebird @jmax @log random ants? Of course not! I think your house is full of very specific ants!
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