The post Fun Facts About Ants You Probably Didn’t Know appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>Being so small and fragile, most ants don’t end up welcoming the old age. However, if they manage to avoid the dangers of the world, some ants can actually live a long life. For example, queen ants are known to live for up to 30 years.
Ants are similar to humans when it comes to their habitat; they can live almost anywhere. You can find ants on every continent on Earth except Antarctica.
Ants don’t have ears, but that doesn’t stop them from “hearing” things. They make up for their lack of ears by sensing the vibrations in the ground using their feet.
Ants have a different anatomy compared to most other insects, including the fact that they basically have two stomachs. One stomach is a regular one they use for the consumption of food like anyone else, while the other is called a “social” stomach. In this second stomach, ants store food so they can later share it with the queen or other ants.
The post Fun Facts About Ants You Probably Didn’t Know appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post Ants Are Causing Lions to Hunt Zebras Less According to a Recent Study appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>A team of scientists recently observed an infestation of big-headed ants in East Africa. They learned that in areas with a large spread of these ants, lions are three times less likely to attack and kill zebras. And the reason is quite unusual.
When hunting zebras, lions use whistling-thorn trees for cover. The trees offer them protection from the sun while preventing zebras from seeing them until it’s too late. But the number of those trees is dwindling.
Elephants love snacking on whistling-thorn trees, but these trees usually have acacia ants protecting them. This species of ants bite and bothers elephants, who quickly give up and move on. However, big-headed ants are now taking over the territory of acacia ants but are not even remotely interested in protecting the trees, causing the elephants to tear them down.
“Because lions need cover to successfully stalk and ambush their prey, they are more exposed when there are fewer trees to hunker down behind, which seems to make it harder for them to successfully take down the zebra,” said Professor Todd Palmer of the University of Florida, who worked on the study.
Palmer adds that the spread of big-headed ants could have more consequences in the future. The whistling-thorn trees are also a source of food for other species, and their loss could significantly change the ecology of the area.
The post Ants Are Causing Lions to Hunt Zebras Less According to a Recent Study appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post With Some Sugar, Artist Uses Ants for Incredible Art appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>What’s the secret to the insects doing exactly what she wants? “Leaving tiny amounts of sugar on a piece of paper to lure them into my drawings,” she reveals. “It gets tricky because they move around quickly and I have to record as fast as I can.”
Can the ant art become a thing that more people are doing? We’ll see over time. For now, enjoy Iantha’s work below and on her Instagram page.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmwEPbBgASr/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmwD6xgAUWP/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxjUujHCEa/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxpgRtnnwd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxwhWZH6i4/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxwpCeH75M/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmyVTt1HEXj/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmyYEiXnX_L/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm2ivuMA6id/
The post With Some Sugar, Artist Uses Ants for Incredible Art appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post Ants Formed Raft To Survive Floods appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>Biologists and engineers have found out that these tiny creatures linked their bodies together similar to how the waterproof fabric is woven.
The ant raft is water repellent because of their cooperative behaviour. The formation of air under the raft increased buoyancy and prevented the underwater layer from drowning. It is also remarkable how these animals can assemble in less than two minutes!
Freelance photographer Rafael Censi captured this amazing formation of ants.
The post Ants Formed Raft To Survive Floods appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post Fun Facts About Ants You Probably Didn’t Know appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>Being so small and fragile, most ants don’t end up welcoming the old age. However, if they manage to avoid the dangers of the world, some ants can actually live a long life. For example, queen ants are known to live for up to 30 years.
Ants are similar to humans when it comes to their habitat; they can live almost anywhere. You can find ants on every continent on Earth except Antarctica.
Ants don’t have ears, but that doesn’t stop them from “hearing” things. They make up for their lack of ears by sensing the vibrations in the ground using their feet.
Ants have a different anatomy compared to most other insects, including the fact that they basically have two stomachs. One stomach is a regular one they use for the consumption of food like anyone else, while the other is called a “social” stomach. In this second stomach, ants store food so they can later share it with the queen or other ants.
The post Fun Facts About Ants You Probably Didn’t Know appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post Ants Are Causing Lions to Hunt Zebras Less According to a Recent Study appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>A team of scientists recently observed an infestation of big-headed ants in East Africa. They learned that in areas with a large spread of these ants, lions are three times less likely to attack and kill zebras. And the reason is quite unusual.
When hunting zebras, lions use whistling-thorn trees for cover. The trees offer them protection from the sun while preventing zebras from seeing them until it’s too late. But the number of those trees is dwindling.
Elephants love snacking on whistling-thorn trees, but these trees usually have acacia ants protecting them. This species of ants bite and bothers elephants, who quickly give up and move on. However, big-headed ants are now taking over the territory of acacia ants but are not even remotely interested in protecting the trees, causing the elephants to tear them down.
“Because lions need cover to successfully stalk and ambush their prey, they are more exposed when there are fewer trees to hunker down behind, which seems to make it harder for them to successfully take down the zebra,” said Professor Todd Palmer of the University of Florida, who worked on the study.
Palmer adds that the spread of big-headed ants could have more consequences in the future. The whistling-thorn trees are also a source of food for other species, and their loss could significantly change the ecology of the area.
The post Ants Are Causing Lions to Hunt Zebras Less According to a Recent Study appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post With Some Sugar, Artist Uses Ants for Incredible Art appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>What’s the secret to the insects doing exactly what she wants? “Leaving tiny amounts of sugar on a piece of paper to lure them into my drawings,” she reveals. “It gets tricky because they move around quickly and I have to record as fast as I can.”
Can the ant art become a thing that more people are doing? We’ll see over time. For now, enjoy Iantha’s work below and on her Instagram page.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmwEPbBgASr/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmwD6xgAUWP/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxjUujHCEa/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxpgRtnnwd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxwhWZH6i4/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmxwpCeH75M/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmyVTt1HEXj/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmyYEiXnX_L/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm2ivuMA6id/
The post With Some Sugar, Artist Uses Ants for Incredible Art appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>The post Ants Formed Raft To Survive Floods appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>Biologists and engineers have found out that these tiny creatures linked their bodies together similar to how the waterproof fabric is woven.
The ant raft is water repellent because of their cooperative behaviour. The formation of air under the raft increased buoyancy and prevented the underwater layer from drowning. It is also remarkable how these animals can assemble in less than two minutes!
Freelance photographer Rafael Censi captured this amazing formation of ants.
The post Ants Formed Raft To Survive Floods appeared first on Our Funny Little Site.
]]>