Bad Ass Little Ants
Not going to lie, but I was going to write about how climate change affected Hurricane in Houston. Then I saw this article.
https://www.livescience.com/60266-fire-ants-form-floating-rafts-in-houston.html
So I've seen Ant Man and I know that Fire Ants used themselves to build bridges and rafts to survive. However, it didn't come to me when I thought of the recent Hurricane that hit Huston. What happens to the chipmunks, worms, fleas, and the ant? I never thought too much about these things before I saw this article.
So apparently they do this when ever there is a flood. Up to 8,000 of these little guys just row row rowing past your flooded house without even batting an antenna at your ruined life. Just don't touch them because apparently they'll just disperse and crawl up you. Metal I know. Then again these Fire Ant live in the South East of the US. So you know what this means? A species of near dessert life ants, are used to and know how to survive a flood! This could mean one of two things.
Fire Ants are bad ass little creatures and know how to survive. Or they're used to it. Idea one is cool and all but, I find two much more interesting. Why would a near dessert dwelling species know how to survive a flood? Is it just in there genetics? Was is a long time ago their ancestors were flooded and the story of Ant Noah and his Ant Arch get passed down? Is the flooding of Houston trapped in a cycle? We have cycling seasons, don't we? Every year it get colder and every spring it rains. So what if ever few hundred years or so Texas get a huge amount of rain fall, what if the ants had to deal with this before.
Just food for thought.
https://www.livescience.com/60266-fire-ants-form-floating-rafts-in-houston.html
So I've seen Ant Man and I know that Fire Ants used themselves to build bridges and rafts to survive. However, it didn't come to me when I thought of the recent Hurricane that hit Huston. What happens to the chipmunks, worms, fleas, and the ant? I never thought too much about these things before I saw this article.
So apparently they do this when ever there is a flood. Up to 8,000 of these little guys just row row rowing past your flooded house without even batting an antenna at your ruined life. Just don't touch them because apparently they'll just disperse and crawl up you. Metal I know. Then again these Fire Ant live in the South East of the US. So you know what this means? A species of near dessert life ants, are used to and know how to survive a flood! This could mean one of two things.
Fire Ants are bad ass little creatures and know how to survive. Or they're used to it. Idea one is cool and all but, I find two much more interesting. Why would a near dessert dwelling species know how to survive a flood? Is it just in there genetics? Was is a long time ago their ancestors were flooded and the story of Ant Noah and his Ant Arch get passed down? Is the flooding of Houston trapped in a cycle? We have cycling seasons, don't we? Every year it get colder and every spring it rains. So what if ever few hundred years or so Texas get a huge amount of rain fall, what if the ants had to deal with this before.
Just food for thought.
This is one of the weirder articles I have encountered so I felt that I should comment. This is seriously amazing that a species could develop such ideas as to float through the flooding to survive. Maybe this could be a sign that animals and insects are developing in ways humans cannot and are beginning to find new ways of life in order to survive. Maybe it means they know something worse is going to happen and they are changing and modifying in order to fit the circumstances they are going to be put in. This is a really cool article, I really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenna on how this was a weirder article. I found it very interesting how the ants trap air pockets makes them buoyant. I think it is interesting how a species adapts a certain event to survive.
DeleteThis is a cool example of a species that are learning how to adapt to their ever changing environment. Its interesting to me because not all animals are able to adapt like this and survive something that otherwise would be deadly. I wonder what will happen to other species that are unable to adapt so rapidly.
ReplyDelete