What always boggles me is how the ants coordinate the building of chambers, rather than just running lots of meandering paths through the dirt (like you'd see in, say, SimAnt).
fuckin' complex social constructs how do they work
I've read that the microcolonies are an adaptation against being noticed by army ants... without that sort of predation I don't see much else countering the advantages of an economy of scale when it comes to colony size.
I mean, you don't have to convince me that ants are cool. The social insects are mind-bogglingly amazing. I'm the girl who wet my pants with excitement when I saw giant termite mounds in Zimbabwe and leaf-cutter ants in Trinidad. Still - they never cease to amaze and astound me.
Now I want to watch all the other videos on the sidebar....
no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 07:58 am (UTC)fuckin' complex social constructs how do they workI've read that the microcolonies are an adaptation against being noticed by army ants... without that sort of predation I don't see much else countering the advantages of an economy of scale when it comes to colony size.
o_O
Date: 2011-02-19 03:06 am (UTC)Now I want to watch all the other videos on the sidebar....
no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 04:43 am (UTC)