Imagine being the first scientist to notice that some of the ants being studied had two butts & that one of them was a beetle that had latched on for a free ride.

See the mandibles of the beetle (yellow arrow)? Latched on to the ant's 'waist', blending seamlessly.

Ants with detachable butts.

Hi Ed,

I think you will know the song in this thread, but *also* I think it would make you smile and you should put a cover of it in your podcast.

sauropods.win/@futurebird/...

@Rob_T_Firefly@masto.hackers.town has a good cover.

@edzitron.com

Both Nova and #picaTheCat have been asked by The Media to explain why they are so small and both evade ever addressing this important issue. Pica just put out a statement from her lawyers (as always) it said: “raw raw” (???) which explains NOTHING. And now this?

We must get to the bottom of this!

Why is my new cat comically small. She weighs less than this smoothie (don’t worry, she is much more fierce than the smoothie)

De volgende opname laat drie mieren (Megaponera analis) zien die gespecialiseerd zijn in het binnendringen van termietennesten. Kleine exemplaren van deze soort gaan naar binnen en dragen de prooi over aan grotere mieren die de slachtoffers naar het nest transporteren. 3/5

(4/12) Another picture of a Megaponera worker carrying termites. These ants are called “singing ants” because, unlike most ants, they make audible (to us) stridulation sounds. During a raid, they pile up termites at the prey colony, and before they retrieve them, the ants stridulate in excitement.

Fascinating to see how #ants work together to get a #Moretlwa seed into their nest.
#photography #nature #outdoors #garden

I use mastodon: @futurebird@sauropods.win