A giant ant colony is pumped full of concrete, then excavated to reveal the complexity of its inner structure.
I found this story/report and was intrigued by it, having lived for several years in places where we were surrounded by these ant castles. I lived in a village called Eket in Cross River State, Nigeria in the 1980s. Every week as we traveled between villages, we saw dozens of these fabulous mud castles. I had no idea what was underground. This video tells what Paul Harvey would call, “the rest of the story.”
It causes me to think about outward appearances and how each of us has worlds within us, stories, experiences, relationships, heartaches and quiet joy that others might never know or see. What we see in others is just what shows, and to some degree, we each control that. Is it a good hair day, or a bad? Do I wear this bright color, or this drab? Does my face show the ache my heart feels? What do I let show, and what is hidden inside (or underground)?
It also testifies to me of a God in heaven who organized creation, down to the smallest ant. Ants have always intrigued me. Did you know that you can cut an ant in half and it won’t die? –well, not until it stops getting nourishment to both parts of the body.
Look at this diagram of an ant. Fascinating. Intricate. And consider the ant castles and underground structures built by African ants. There is intelligence and socicality there.
We are not here by chance. Our bodies are not here because of evolution. There is order in our universe and there is a God in heaven. We are his children and we will return to live with him some day. This I know.
Here are some more fun facts from the Ant Blog: http://www.antweb.org/antblog/
I know ants don’t have true hearts or bloodvessels but how do they push things around their bodies? Where is the “pump” located?
Thanks
Lynn
Dear Lynn,
Ant, like all other insects, do not have an arteries or vein system, but they do have an open circular system. Their blood is called haemolymph, it is almost colorless and it does contain only 10 % blood cells, most of its volume is plasma. This haemolymph is used for the transport of hormones, nutrients and metabolic products, but not for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
To enable the circulation of this haemolymph, ants have a very simple heart which is located at the abdomen of ants. Their hearth is like an arteria which is surrounded by some small muscles. When this heart contacts by these muscles (going from the back to the head), the haemolymph is pressed into the different body parts, a significant part is directed to the head of the ant. Insects may also increase their haemolymph circulation by pressing their abdominal parts.
For their oxygen supply, they have small openings called spiracles at each body segment which supply their body directly with fresh air. When the oxygen enters the body, it goes via tracheal trunks and the smaller tracheal tubes to the different body parts and organs. As this system works mostly by passive air exchange, the body size of insects is limited to the dimension we know, so huge monster insects know from certain movies could not exist as they simply could not breathe.
Thank you for contacting us at Antblog!
Dirk Mezger & the AntAsk Team
