Review: The Ant
Category: Animals
Author: Anonymous, attributed to God/Evolution
Rating: 67%
The Ants are a group of primarily colonial insects. They are known to communicate using pheromones, and many species produce ant-specific acid: formic acid. They usually live in nests comprised of hundreds of thousands of individuals, with one queen. They are, as a group, omnivorous, and individual species range from fully carnivorous to fully herbivorous.
Ants are really the underdogs of the insect world. If they didn’t band together, they’d never get anywhere- so it’s a good thing they do just that. I had a number of reservations about ants initially, and the group is far from perfect: firstly, they’re fragile. People will tell you that if they were human size, they would be tougher than nails- but the thing about ants is, they aren’t as big as humans. In fact, they’re really tiny, a flaw shared by many insects.
Author: Anonymous, attributed to God/Evolution
Rating: 67%
The Ants are a group of primarily colonial insects. They are known to communicate using pheromones, and many species produce ant-specific acid: formic acid. They usually live in nests comprised of hundreds of thousands of individuals, with one queen. They are, as a group, omnivorous, and individual species range from fully carnivorous to fully herbivorous.
Ants are really the underdogs of the insect world. If they didn’t band together, they’d never get anywhere- so it’s a good thing they do just that. I had a number of reservations about ants initially, and the group is far from perfect: firstly, they’re fragile. People will tell you that if they were human size, they would be tougher than nails- but the thing about ants is, they aren’t as big as humans. In fact, they’re really tiny, a flaw shared by many insects.
My second problem is the whole pheromone system. Ants lay pheremone trails when they move, which are altered based on their findings as they travel. The next ant to leave the nest simply follows a promising trail.This works a treat 90% of the time, but the other ten percent... well, see for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA37cb10WMU
So there are some glitches in the ants’ OS that really need fixing. Bugs, you might say.
It’s not all bad news though. By using their teamwork, ants are known to accomplish a number of amazing things, beyond the reach of larger insects. They have mastered agriculture, for example- they keep livestock and they grow vegetables. Even though their pheromone system can let them down, it allows for much greater efficiency most of the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA37cb10WMU
So there are some glitches in the ants’ OS that really need fixing. Bugs, you might say.
It’s not all bad news though. By using their teamwork, ants are known to accomplish a number of amazing things, beyond the reach of larger insects. They have mastered agriculture, for example- they keep livestock and they grow vegetables. Even though their pheromone system can let them down, it allows for much greater efficiency most of the time.
It is in the weaponry department that ants really come into their own. Various species use formic acid, a type of acid specific to ants, and can spray it at long range. Species such as the bullet ant have developed immensely powerful- and painful- bites, and these as well as the acid are likely to be used En Masse, since the ants again use their most effective trait- teamwork.
Overall, then, it’s a mixed basket. I wouldn’t count on the ant franchise to bring anything special to your ecosystem, yet almost every species in the range is a decent all-rounder. You’d be hard pressed to find an ant that wasn’t suited to any given environment. The ants are solid and dependable, and I have no hesitation in giving them a double thumbs-up: they're antastic.
Overall, then, it’s a mixed basket. I wouldn’t count on the ant franchise to bring anything special to your ecosystem, yet almost every species in the range is a decent all-rounder. You’d be hard pressed to find an ant that wasn’t suited to any given environment. The ants are solid and dependable, and I have no hesitation in giving them a double thumbs-up: they're antastic.
