Post AkV7pA65wevMPmqaHI by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #AkUyOXX5o0BdgzhpVw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T18:57:22Z
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When ants escape they are predictable. They either try desperately to get back into their home OR the menace one of the other colonies. This tiny Camponotus discolor minor is investigating the nest of the much larger Formica. The have not noticed her and after filming this little display of belligerence she was swiftly removed back to her nest. Why do I imagine she’s disappointed? The discolor colony is always wanting to start something. Ants, ya’ll. Ants. She wants to fight a whole colony.
(DIR) Post #AkUya9InigZA1AYaCO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T18:59:30Z
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This would be like walking by a packed biker bar and pounding on the window yelling. I'm glad they didn't notice her.
(DIR) Post #AkUzByyiYISB0FCfbM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T19:06:16Z
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@fivetonsflax They're so warlike and terrible. I kind of love them for it, but she really needed to cool her jets.
(DIR) Post #AkUzsM5yzeBMrVo492 by LazaroDTormes@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T19:12:36Z
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@futurebird I am amazed by the fact that "she was swiftly removed back to her nest." I would have thought that she would be killed.
(DIR) Post #AkUzyld0yZUlmvJYFU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T19:15:08Z
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@LazaroDTormes No I picked her up and took her home. LOL.
(DIR) Post #AkV1cexfHaSqeGYjxI by alec@perkins.pub
2024-07-31T19:33:31Z
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@futurebird loosen your mandibles, little one
(DIR) Post #AkV74Nn1DgXHGpcOvI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:34:29Z
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@spiegelmama This is the exact vibe. I was aghast. (and dragged her home swinging)
(DIR) Post #AkV7QzNe8fHgE8Ww1Q by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:38:39Z
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Something you can't tell from this video: I saw her escape this morning. She went into a crack so rather than brushing her out & risking hurting her I decided to just wait until she popped up again. The next time I see her she's on the other side of the room climbing the shelf. I just watch her curious what has attracted her. She could sense the this colony from *across the room* Honed in on a tiny hole in the tubing (that's what she's worrying at, it's a hole I use to add water. )
(DIR) Post #AkV7VifVhUfXqO8q2q by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:39:11Z
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Their sense of smell is remarkable.
(DIR) Post #AkV7iYeIGSfIX7h6f2 by homelessjun@mas.to
2024-07-31T20:41:22Z
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@futurebird as for argentine ants, i wonder if they can smell their fallen sisters even long afterward.
(DIR) Post #AkV7nRPYbLulXA87G4 by pamela6591@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T20:42:12Z
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@futurebird Wow.
(DIR) Post #AkV7pA65wevMPmqaHI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:42:20Z
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@homelessjun Ants seem hyper sensitive to anything involving other ants. I can't smell anything even when cleaning their nests. But there must be a lot going on.
(DIR) Post #AkV80iV0NeHiIO0aVk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:45:08Z
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There are horror stories from ant-keepers who had small wild ants attack their pets by getting in through little cracks. So you want your formicarium to be designed not just to keep your ants in... but to keep any other ants out... though this is more of an issue for people in tropical areas who don't live in highrises. I don't really have wild ants up here.
(DIR) Post #AkV8KkSSo4E6AAN5yy by mcc@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T20:48:29Z
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@futurebird Do ants raised as pets in a home tend to be a different species/subspecies than the ants you find wild?
(DIR) Post #AkV8PZyjCGhB6olaHg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:49:39Z
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@mcc With one exception I keep only local species. And when that colony dies I don't want to keep any non-local ants again.
(DIR) Post #AkV8laFYrscqK18HtQ by LazaroDTormes@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T20:52:35Z
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@futurebird Ah, but the other ants would have killed her, right?
(DIR) Post #AkV8uXZcBlRCcvmdhg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T20:55:04Z
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@LazaroDTormes Yes, if she got in. Although she is much faster than these ants and maybe just wanted to get a sense of the size of the colony and run home to try to bring help. She doesn't understand that she's locked out and can't call her sisters. Heck... she may have laid a trail all the way up the bookshelf ... and is just waiting for the rest to join her. (not knowing they can't)
(DIR) Post #AkVAwVMXZzXqG1jTcm by justafrog@mstdn.social
2024-07-31T21:17:54Z
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@futurebird Oh wow.She's totally looking for a way in.
(DIR) Post #AkVBezVQrtPeUH6WOG by msbellows@c.im
2024-07-31T21:26:00Z
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@futurebird WHY, tho?
(DIR) Post #AkVBklI0dbOQ8JZrAe by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T21:27:05Z
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@msbellows Other ants are living too close to her glorious home!
(DIR) Post #AkVCSYdV2mmxdBVr6W by joshuaalbers@mas.to
2024-07-31T21:34:57Z
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@futurebird an artist friend of mine had a cool project in Germany involving ants—apparently they kept chewing through their enclosures! https://brittanyransom.squarespace.com/primitiveborders
(DIR) Post #AkVIdYjvb9O8rZ9HtY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T22:44:10Z
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@LazaroDTormes Me: I love all ants. So nice to get to know these different colonies.My Ants: Who are those b**ches? We can take them! Let us at 'em! Although there is a similar dynamic with our cat Pica and birds outside the window. But, if I'm critical of her she just glares at me when we have chicken wondering why that's OK but just capin' the doves isn't.
(DIR) Post #AkVJ3PJnFXxRAiFYDA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T22:48:51Z
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@LazaroDTormes This is why people who keep ants get so mad at ant "youTubers" who try to put colonies together "as an experiment" ... that's just dogfighting with extra rationalizations. (And anyone who knows two things about ants knows this.) They will not "get along" (there are some rare exceptions, eg... if there is a massive massive outworld but yeah.)
(DIR) Post #AkVKB67ScAYTtkiDOS by barrygoldman1@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T23:01:29Z
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@futurebird @LazaroDTormes i for one welcome these experiments because:18,000 species of ants and maybe ONE mutualism between them that remember? that's WEIRD. FEISTY LITTLE BUGGERS.
(DIR) Post #AkVPV9mnBvNCpgQfIG by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-08-01T00:01:01Z
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@futurebird There were 3 main ant species out where I was watching leafcutter queens. One was tiny, the other was a seed-harvester. The tiny ants were definitely rampaging against the larger ants. The seed-harvesters didn't seem to be going to great lengths to attack and clear out the leafcutter queens.
(DIR) Post #AkVPwZBKsVWPPnykvg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-01T00:05:57Z
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@theantlady It's fine, fun, and educational to simply film ants in the wild getting into all kinds of controversies and conflicts... and there is a channel "D Colony" that does just this.
(DIR) Post #AkVQGFIyUOXDYmw5DM by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-08-01T00:02:08Z
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@futurebird Elsewhere, here is a seed-harvester bringing a crippled Camponotus worker home for dinner:https://flic.kr/p/2q73mRc
(DIR) Post #AkVQM91wjONtpxmeUC by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-08-01T00:03:59Z
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@futurebird I suspect outcomes across species will vary depending on niche overlap. Intraspecific competition, however, can be very fierce.But the temptation to see what will happen seems to often outweigh any scientific and ethical merits, driving what winds up on YouTube.
(DIR) Post #AkWYOwCzqte1jOkstc by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-08-01T13:15:33Z
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@futurebird @LazaroDTormes I mean there's a famous cautionary legend by none other than George R. R. Martin about this exact problem, but ...
(DIR) Post #AkWfMWUvAn7N5ew1mC by JorgeStolfi@mas.to
2024-08-01T14:33:27Z
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@futurebird @LazaroDTormes Are you saying that plucking wings out of flies and sunbathing ants with a magnifier is NOT scientific research???
(DIR) Post #AkWfRzS8whK8LDF60m by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-01T14:34:24Z
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@JorgeStolfi @LazaroDTormes No that's just a way to have a real problem with your local ant lady.
(DIR) Post #AkYRz4fLZhgN1UDgkS by tupsu@hachyderm.io
2024-08-02T11:12:34Z
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@futurebird I don't keep ants, but I once had a sizeable number of ants enter my 5th floor apartment in Finland (scavenging some spilled honey on the floor, they got in through the balcony). Based on that, I would guess that your horror story scenario could also occur in non-tropical areas and on lower levels of high-rises, especially if there's any moisture issues - I think the ants had a habit of hanging out on the building's balconies anyway, as they were often somewhat damp.
(DIR) Post #AkcakAYh3myvAtun6O by Landa@graz.social
2024-08-04T11:09:57Z
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@futurebird I think the next phase of escalation would have been to push the furthest bike in the row so that all of them fall down 😂Or would ants prefer motorcycles with sidecars?
(DIR) Post #AkcbRxF3vrU4cEbwwK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-04T11:17:52Z
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@Landa Ant will throw trash in their neighbor's nest... they are so belligerent. This is a post all about how they "prank the neighbors" with a video...https://www.tumblr.com/futurebird/746605827326181377/ants-can-be-petty?source=share
(DIR) Post #AkcvERaEKDF3kNLaD2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-04T14:59:28Z
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@maggiejk I love this ant and how determined she is to cause trouble. And the way she runs away when one of them almost noticed her.