

Honey ant queens share a throne - narad
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14417917

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blackboxxx
Another factoid on ants: typically, when a person spots an ant inside their
residence, they assume the worst. They fear a swarming, thriving ant colony is
breeding inside their home.

This is almost never the case.

Most species of ants live in hollow trees, logs, landscaping timbers, and
soil, and will march hundreds of metres from their colony in search of food.

If you see ants in your home, there's no need to napalm your carpets or use
traps and poisons. Have compassion. Keeping your floors clear of carbohydrate
rich foods will keep most ants busy looking elsewhere.

And for the odd ant scout that goes walking by? Look the other way. They're
not the enemy. They are your friend. They are a part of nature.

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mrsebastian
I've always wondered... how much of these nature documentaries are shot in the
wild, and how much is shot in a controlled environment? From the write-up I
presume that the outside shot of the queens working together was 'real' -- but
when the camera pans down, is that some kind of artificial ant farm?

~~~
frading
I would say yes, most likely an artificial ant farm. I learned recently from a
documentary director friend of mine that this is done very often. For
instance, since a human should really not get too close to a wild cheetah,
they would use domestic ones for close up shots, even though the documentary
is meant to be in the jungle. Most audiences would not spot the trick, and it
would help filmmakers tell their story more fluently. But it of course blurs
the line between fiction and documentary.

------
yread
> Mr Mendez pointed out that, rather than valuing a single sovereign, the
> worker ants were simply picking off the weakest queens to manage their
> resources better.

wow that looks like a really good strategy - first the queens help each other
out to improve their chances of building a good nest and then they get starved
by possibly their own "kids" so that the colony is driven by the strongest
queen. The article doesn't provide much detail about how do they select "the
weakest link" though

~~~
smoyer
Unfortunately the article doesn't mention kings, but I can identify being
starved by your own children. Two college tuitions and a thin-as-a-rail son
that can empty the refrigerator in a single meal. j/k

