Audiences can expect to be entranced by visualizations of ant pheromone trails, a musical aria from the perspective of an ant queen, and a dance sequence set in a grocery store inspired by
army ant swarm raids.
The host ants, as with other
army ants, do not construct permanent nests but are nomadic.
This fascinating footage shows the algorithms used by
army ants to build bridges with their bodies
In this molecular phylogeny, three large ant-specific clades of spiroplasmas were identified: ant clade 1 that includes endosymbionts of Cephalotes, Solenopsis, Tetraponera, Pseudomyrmex and Neivamyrmex; ant clade 2 that comprises spiroplasma-associates of the ant genera Polyrhachis, Camponotus, Pseudomyrmex, and Cephalotes; and ant clade 3 which was dominated by
army ants (subfamilies Aenictinae, Dorylinae, and Ecitoninae) (Figure 2).
High rates of
army ant raids in the Neotropics and implications for ant colony and community structure.
When the front lines encounter spiders, other species of ants, and even scorpions, the
army ants group up, grab the prey, inject it with venom, and pull it apart.
When
army ants use their own bodies to plug tiny potholes in rough trails, the whole colony benefits, a new study has found.
Seasonal, Nocturnal and Diurnal Flight Periodicities of Neartic
Army Ant Males (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
For instance, an
army ant bivouac is an adaptive structure composed of many workers linked together and is therefore a self-assemblage.
In the photo at left, a trap-jaw is trying to protect her baby sister from a black
army ant. She curves the tip of her abdomen underneath her and jabs it at the attacker's face.
They already were applied at great expense to insertion and assembly tasks and to pick-and-place, painting, welding and inspection operations, all requiring simple repetitive movement with little intelligence necessary, only stamina -- not unlike a worker bee or an
army ant. What was forced into service was superhuman; what was required, however, was a bug.
Attractant-repellent secretions of blind snakes (Leptotyphlops dulcis) and their
army ant prey (Neivamyrmex nigrescens).
River Time's strength lies in Hood's description of some of the more unusual flora and fauna she stumbles across including the purple milkwort one of only thirty-six species that produce flowers underground or the
army ant who travels in foraging packs 10000 strong pouring over the ground like streams of "black oil." Of course natural history aside Hood's experience of the places she visits is also a modern one--shaped by corporate influences and muddied with the pollution and ecological devastation she too frequently encounters.
