Reader question: who discovered the sex of ant workers?

A query from the inbox: Hi, my question is regarding the gender of the worker ants (and the ant queen). As we all know; they are female, however was this discovered many centuries ago or is this a recent discovery? I plead ignorance.  I know apiculturists had figured out the sex of worker bees in [...]

Read Full Post »

Location, location, location

This young black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) set up shop above the nest entrance of a colony of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants.  It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, allowing the spider nearly unlimited pickings as the ants come and go. The spider’s mottled coloration is typical of young widows; they don’t acquire the striking black and red warning garb [...]

Read Full Post »

Question: Ritualized Fighting in Harvester Ants?

Here’s a question for my myrmecologist readers.  Has anyone published observations of ritualized fighting among colonies of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants?  I know such behavior was famously studied by Bert Hoelldobler in Myrmecocystus, and that ritual combat has been noted in Camponotus and Iridomyrmex.  The reason I ask is that the pogos in my front yard [...]

Read Full Post »

Losing an Herbarium

One of the most important collections of South American plants is being shut down. The Utrecht Herbarium in the Netherlands houses nearly 1 million specimens and 10,000 types. When the museum closes we will lose a wealth of knowledge about the flora of a diverse and endangered part of the world. Read More and Sign [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Beetle Blogging: Adranes Ant-Nest Beetle

Adranes ant-nest beetle California The most exciting finds are often the least expected. I stumbled across this odd little beetle while collecting ants several years ago in northern California. It was tiny, only a few millimeters long, with a little blind nubbin for a head whose sole purpose seemed to be supporting antennae that looked [...]

Read Full Post »

Ants and Plants Gallery

Common caricatures of Darwinian evolution evoke nature as a brutal force, one of ruthless competition in which the strongest prevail. In truth evolutionary processes can be much more nuanced. Under a wide array of conditions, species find Darwinian advantage in cooperative relationships. Some of the most striking cases of evolutionary partnerships involve the planet’s dominant [...]

Read Full Post »