Post B5UlEBzuc1d4dk051k by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
(DIR) More posts by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
(DIR) Post #B5UdKQ6MHtq8UFTSDY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-20T18:15:30Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Life as a forager is always dangerous for ants. This is why only the oldest most experienced ants with the least fat reserves participate in foraging in many species. Younger ants work in relative safety closer to the nest. In desert ants the average lifespan of a forager not long once she ventures into to hot, deadly open desert. But if she can bring home a dead insect? What a prize! A feast for the whole colony.
(DIR) Post #B5Ug8kCQ2Sc1CrQuBs by lemgandi@mastodon.social
2026-04-20T18:46:58Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird S. Invicta and many other predatory//scavenger ants actually spend much of their time underground. They build tunnels out of the nest, and foraging consists of rushing out, seizing prey or carrion, and rushing back. I reckon this ain't practical for desert ants in sand.
(DIR) Post #B5UiLeMVFk6Em7QoL2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-20T19:11:45Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
The Saharan silver ants remind me of astronauts. They have silver space suits, consisting of a layer of prismatic hairs that cover their body, reflecting the sun making them glint like liquid mercury.—and they are as fleet on their long, slender legs as the God by that same name. After the safety and cool darkness of the nest, the desert must seem like an alien planet, their lives as fleeting and dogged by danger as their human counterparts.
(DIR) Post #B5Uim1q8aKID7Us41Y by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2026-04-20T19:16:30Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird Ooooooh!!!!!"Saharan silver ants produce heat shock proteins (HSPs), but unlike other animals, they do this not in direct response to heat. Instead, they do this before leaving the nest, so they do not suffer the initial damage when their body temperature rises quickly."COOL!!! (Pun in no way intended but at least noticed in time.)
(DIR) Post #B5UjVPRzeF0dNVDW4W by mxchara@seattle.pink
2026-04-20T19:23:56Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird had to look up. shiny!
(DIR) Post #B5UkqfX79GH9IDJUie by bransonturner@mastodon.social
2026-04-20T19:39:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird yesterday on a clifftop trail overlooking the ocean there was a line of tall shrubs. On a branch in one of them lay a dead sparrow. A column of ants went back and forth across the branch, protected, hidden, and shaded by leaves. This is the era that will be sung about in the ant banquet halls of future generations.
(DIR) Post #B5Ul4scvGNOdxLo4aO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-20T19:42:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mxchara They look even more shiny when in motion.I've had the idea of their human counterparts in an SF story rattling around in my head. On this horrible desert planet hapless prospectors seek their fortune (they are drawn by lies of easy wealth) but they often die of heat stroke far out on the dunes where only the silver suited desert runners can find them (and save them, or perhaps just take their gear)The runners are in danger too, but they are ready, high risk and high reward.
(DIR) Post #B5UlEA9PTk2QucQdYO by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2026-04-20T19:23:13Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Most living things produce HSPs not literally in response to heat but in response to heat *damage* (denatured cellular proteins). They've clearly evolved some sort of extra system to layer on top of that one that's controlled … neurally, I guess? Or pheromonally. I don't imagine it's been studied in enough detail to get the mechanism.
(DIR) Post #B5UlEB5C0uG7npSmcT by adrake@sfba.social
2026-04-20T19:36:10Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@stevegis_ssg @futurebird neural control over a low-level process like that makes me think of metamorphosis. The insect can find a safe hiding place first, but that means it's basically neural control of cell division and specialization! In the case of metamorphosis the mechanism is endocrine, and that seems like it could work pretty well here, too. I do wonder if anyone has studied it!
(DIR) Post #B5UlEBzuc1d4dk051k by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2026-04-20T19:42:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@adrake @futurebird I couldn't find (I didn't spend *too* much time looking!) any direct support for their statement that they turn them up just before leaving the nest; the review that wikipedia links to just says they have elevated levels at normal temp, like some other heat-adapted organisms. (And human populations?!?!?) But again, I didn't do a literature search.
(DIR) Post #B5UlECcuH2oyagFDo8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-20T19:43:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@stevegis_ssg @adrake They endure a heat that cooks every other living thing. That's how they score the big bounty.
(DIR) Post #B5UlXJkg0S8uBvzewC by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2026-04-20T19:47:28Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @adrake Every other *animal.* There are archaea that survive 100°C (in part because it's not boiling at the pressure they live at but also all their proteins are super-weird and don't even work at like 60°C 'cause it's too cold).God that came off WELL ACTUALLY and I didn't mean it that way I just think it's really cool is all!!!
(DIR) Post #B5UmSF7jsyScLOvPKi by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2026-04-20T19:57:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird P.s.: I've replied to kind of a lot of your posts today and we're not even mutuals so let me assure you I'm real good at fucking off if told to. I don't want to be an annoying reply guy.
(DIR) Post #B5UmSG9C53DbWCc5Eu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-04-20T19:57:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@stevegis_ssg NO.we are having fun
(DIR) Post #B5UmWJpkJhOc6rS6ue by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2026-04-20T19:58:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird WHEEEEEE!!!!!!!
(DIR) Post #B5V8cv0ZDItk8L492m by mxchara@seattle.pink
2026-04-21T00:05:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird oh that is a really cool extrapolation! I find myself thinking of runners emerging from every conceivable shelter from the heat, doing their business as fast as possible between way-points