Petra van Cronenburg
boosted
Hello, I am Myrmoteras and I will be your disembowler this evening.
Hello, I am Myrmoteras and I will be your disembowler this evening.
Hello, I am Myrmoteras and I will be your disembowler this evening.
Petra van Cronenburg
boosted
A gallery of ant queens from around the world.
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Natural-History/Queen-Ants
A gallery of ant queens from around the world.
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Natural-History/Queen-Ants
Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈
boosted
I went for a walk in the woods and came across many huge anthills. Even though they're topped with grass and moss, they were still active ant homes! Of course I took pictures (well, not of all of them) because I wanted to share them with @theantlady and @futurebird
Two large anthills in the forest, circled in red so you differentiate then from the rest of the forest floor. They were only about 6 feet apart. Guess they got along OK! The closer one was about a foot tall and 2 feet across, the other was about one third the size, but there might be more of it under the fallen tree it's next to.
A massive anthill on a great floor with grass growing on top. It's almost 2 feet tall, 5 or 6 feet wide, and over 3 feet wide.
An anthill on a great floor with moss and small plants. About 10 inches tall and a bit more across.
I went for a walk in the woods and came across many huge anthills. Even though they're topped with grass and moss, they were still active ant homes! Of course I took pictures (well, not of all of them) because I wanted to share them with @theantlady and @futurebird
Two large anthills in the forest, circled in red so you differentiate then from the rest of the forest floor. They were only about 6 feet apart. Guess they got along OK! The closer one was about a foot tall and 2 feet across, the other was about one third the size, but there might be more of it under the fallen tree it's next to.
A massive anthill on a great floor with grass growing on top. It's almost 2 feet tall, 5 or 6 feet wide, and over 3 feet wide.
An anthill on a great floor with moss and small plants. About 10 inches tall and a bit more across.
Petra van Cronenburg
boosted
Parasite of the Day: Cynomorium songaricum
https://dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2025/09/cynomorium-songaricum.html paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0319087
"C. songaricum is a root #parasite... And the roots of its host are located about three metres underground beneath the dry desert sand... Each seed has a little fleshy tag on it... as with all things the #ants find tasty, they haul the seeds back to the larder of their nest... three metres underground - placing them right on the same level as the nitre bush's roots"
Parasite of the Day: Cynomorium songaricum
https://dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2025/09/cynomorium-songaricum.html paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0319087
"C. songaricum is a root #parasite... And the roots of its host are located about three metres underground beneath the dry desert sand... Each seed has a little fleshy tag on it... as with all things the #ants find tasty, they haul the seeds back to the larder of their nest... three metres underground - placing them right on the same level as the nitre bush's roots"
Petra van Cronenburg
boosted
First-ever documented case of a plant mimicking ants to attract pollinators https://phys.org/news/2025-09-documented-case-mimicking-ants-pollinators.html
Olfactory floral #mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly #pollinators https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225011261
"Vincetoxicum nakaianum (a #dogbane species native to #Japan described only a year ago) mimics the smell of #ants attacked by #spiders. This scent attracts #flies that feed on these injured #insects and pollinate the #flowers in the process."
Petra van Cronenburg
boosted
First-ever documented case of a plant mimicking ants to attract pollinators https://phys.org/news/2025-09-documented-case-mimicking-ants-pollinators.html
Olfactory floral #mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly #pollinators https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225011261
"Vincetoxicum nakaianum (a #dogbane species native to #Japan described only a year ago) mimics the smell of #ants attacked by #spiders. This scent attracts #flies that feed on these injured #insects and pollinate the #flowers in the process."