Post Ak0OB1wSWTOErI22bI by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #Ak0NdYnrq2aYvl3Ncu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T00:44:10Z
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One of the newly eclosed carpenter ants has fused antennae and a problem with the exoskeleton of her legs. Insects that molt multiple times can get a second shot at fixing such problems, but not ants. Her sisters have removed her from the nest, but didn’t put her in the trash (yay?) I picked her up to see if I could help. I was able to unstick her back legs so she can move around a little. Her sisters still feed her, and there are no predators -so she might do OK. I’ve watched her for 3 days.
(DIR) Post #Ak0NtXMUxuWz5qs13I by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T00:47:03Z
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I think this is just some issue with either not being removed from her cocoon soon enough. She's the only one with the issue. She is still recognized as a colony member, but in a wild colony laying outside of the nest would not be safe. Ants can be pretty ruthless, but they also will go to great lengths to help if it's in their power.
(DIR) Post #Ak0NykOnv9IQyXQuzQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T00:48:00Z
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They will put ants in the trash if they have certain infections. Colony life can be harsh.
(DIR) Post #Ak0OB1wSWTOErI22bI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T00:50:12Z
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They will also put themselves in the trash if they think they are near the end of their life... Which seems melodramatic to me.
(DIR) Post #Ak0OOdcnjJ9hUjKG8W by beans_please@mastodon.social
2024-07-17T00:52:32Z
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@futurebird maybe they're just preparing for their wrestling premier
(DIR) Post #Ak0On0umn0Lqg4MSRs by pamela6591@mastodon.social
2024-07-17T00:57:06Z
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@futurebird Life is harsh. Like ants, humans survive through community and cooperation.Unlike ants, we philosophize. We think in the abstract. We fall in love. It's the loving, I think, that will determine whether we will succeed as a species or be swept into the dustbin of evolution.
(DIR) Post #Ak0PYNmrZK7zE0F6MC by Starry1086@wandering.shop
2024-07-17T01:05:37Z
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@futurebird Can she get a name? 😄
(DIR) Post #Ak0ljSC7iilj4Tk4x6 by msbellows@c.im
2024-07-17T05:14:09Z
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@futurebird Serious of harsh question: why not put her out of her misery? Does she have a chance at recovering and rejoining the colony?
(DIR) Post #Ak1EhbGpu0IPJNPma0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T10:38:45Z
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@msbellows I don't have a way of knowing if it is "misery" or not. She is able to move around. Attacked the paint brush with her mandible and formic acid when I removed her (normal colony defense response, and if I'd been a spider it would have hurt)She can do some things. Her sisters groom her and feed her, but no longer keep her inside the nest. She could still participate in defense although she is very vulnerable. But ants waste nothing.
(DIR) Post #Ak1F91ddyWeMuPA09I by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T10:43:44Z
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@msbellows Pain is very different in arthropods compared to vertebrates. When our limbs are injured they hurt to force us to let them heal. Arthropods don't have this response to broken limbs. If you amputate the lower leg of an ant she will fight to prevent it but then she will keep walking on it. I trust her sisters to know if she is "too far gone" They have made that call in other cases. I suspect ant happiness is being useful to your colony. As long as they want her it's not my call.
(DIR) Post #Ak1FNDhdusjINdncYa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T10:46:18Z
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@msbellows I am mildly distressed by her predicament. I hope I've made the right call. Antkeeping has mostly taught me to not do too many things and just trust the ants.
(DIR) Post #Ak1GDpOd1Dk8LHzUnY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T10:55:46Z
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@msbellows The weird thing is in "trusting the ants" it's not so much their choices I'm interacting with but their accumulated optimization through adaption to many circumstances.If you have an exoskeleton & mature in a cocoon there is a danger of this happening. It's happened before perhaps millions of times. Ants without cocoons will remove incorrectly formed legs before they eclose. How is that behavior encoded? How are their choices for this ant encoded?https://www.tumblr.com/futurebird/687533053186326528/harvester-ants-render-first-aid-for-their-pupating
(DIR) Post #Ak1GOdgAvFshBjLyAS by nicholas_saunders@mastodon.social
2024-07-17T10:57:45Z
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@futurebird @msbellows never knew ants groomed each other.
(DIR) Post #Ak1GQQtTQhTO77Qeo4 by Tattie@eldritch.cafe
2024-07-17T10:57:50Z
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@futurebird exiled for being different-- if this is fantasy genre now is about the time she will be entrusted with a quest upon which the fate of the colony rests. 🐜@msbellows
(DIR) Post #Ak1GXTflUpAIl9NNbs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-17T10:59:22Z
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@nicholas_saunders @msbellows They are like cats with the grooming, both self grooming and social grooming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UcSAcYd8Qs&t=4s
(DIR) Post #Ak1OJ6VHdmfGTt89WC by AdeptVeritatis@social.tchncs.de
2024-07-17T12:26:12Z
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@futurebird @msbellows I am not sure, because it is hard to find literature about it. But it can be explained with evolution.There is a certain species. Over time, something else develops from that species. It has characteristics, which makes it definitely distinguishable from the other species. A new branch appeared.The opioid system is one of these characteristics. Its introduction was probably around a billion years ago.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10097391/
(DIR) Post #Ak6TOZYMX7NVaOnUO0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-19T23:16:58Z
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Update on this ant. She seemed to do fine, she was just near the entrance to the colony sometimes near the water feeder. But last night she stoped moving. This morning she's gone. I think she must be in the graveyard although I couldn't spot her there. In other news Tulip tried to escape again and almost got crushed by the lid. Ants...
(DIR) Post #Ak6q3nz1z8GbClKznU by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-07-20T03:30:57Z
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@futurebird how come ant fanciers haven't bred ants to hatch out numbered and color-coded?
(DIR) Post #Ak6qElJ2HOic5Qv3kO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-20T03:32:43Z
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@llewelly Implies getting ants to do what you want. Ants are more ... independent than cats.
(DIR) Post #Ak6qN7TDl0eV91fVXU by gay_ornithischians@sauropods.win
2024-07-20T03:34:23Z
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@futurebird accidentally killing a bug you were trying to help is one of the worst feelings
(DIR) Post #Ak7LYi6yxmFCYAH1JA by Gobabu@mastodon.social
2024-07-20T09:23:50Z
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@futurebird Hey! Not this painted clown! Put the lid on the orange one!Pica Tulip 2024!
(DIR) Post #Ak7STz1ZM157EdR0SW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-20T10:41:25Z
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@Gobabu In 2026 when we are all suffering in the beef jerky and sugar mines laboring for "the greater good" I know who I will blame.
(DIR) Post #Ak7UpG4VMqEQ61521I by Gobabu@mastodon.social
2024-07-20T11:07:31Z
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@futurebird “I have earned every slice. And in all my years of house cat, I have never stolen jerky. People have got to know whether or not their cat is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I stole.”