Insect neurotransmission and hemoglobin.

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

this is cool... Very Happy

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joman · Tiger Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 848

Dr. Martin,

When I was in the jungle I observed the habits of the leaf cutter ants. They were at least an inch long with white stripes/markings.
They cleared little six lane highways for their leaf trafficking.
The highways were clean of everything but dirt.
Some ants going one way and some the other.
We had red flashlight lenses that enabled the retention of night vision.
When we shined the red light on the ant highways at night we found that they all the ants were sleeping in the place where they were when the light of the sun faded.
They carried large leaf sections in their pincers if headed home and when they went to sleep they simply laid down and leaned their leaf section over.
When we shined a white light on them they would rise up immediately and get to work as if the sun had risen!
As soon as we turned the white light off they immediately laid down their leaf loads and snoozed!
It was comical and yet amazing to observe.

Any comments?
Joman.

P1234567890 · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:29 am Post subject:

joman · Tiger Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 848

P,

I didn't know that. Thank you for informing me.

Joman.

joman · Tiger Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 848

P123,

Well then, I'll describe another scene concerning ants.

In the same jungle on a large hilltop we suddenly found our feet sinking into light sand while crossing over it.
When we stopped and looked we discovered that the whole of the hilltop was an ant hill.
The trees nearby were not large and void of leaves as though it were winter.
I had leather gloves on.
As I stood there I leaned my right hand on a limb of a dead looking tree.
Immediately I was attacked (via the hand) by a swarming of innumerable and very small black ants that possessed that tree.
I guess that those ants think that anything touching their tree is more tree.
And, apparently they test their hypothesis by biting the new bark and seeing if there's any complaint.
I couldn't get the gloves off fast enough!
Ow!
It scared me too!
That was because at the moment it happened I was drifting in my thoughts back to the movie "The Naked Jungle" where Charlton Heston (plantation owner in Brazil?) made a last ditch effort to resist the invasion of armies of ants. In that movie a guy in a boat is overwhelmed by meat eating ants that obtained access to his canoe by floating on leaves they had cut down. At that moment I was pondering the possibility of any connection between my standing in the midst of a huge ant hill and the fate of people in that movie!
I survived!

Joman.

FFT · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:04 am Post subject:

I remember that, I think I read the book. Army ants, weren't they?
_________________
When Science was in its crib, Religion tried to strangle it. When Science was in its infancy, Religion tried to abuse it. Now that Science is grown up, Religion wants to be in its good graces.

Theology is philosophy/ethics for people who already know what conclusion they want to come to.

P1234567890 · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:12 am Post subject:

Yup, nature is pretty cool. Apparently ants can figure out when other ants in their colony are infected with certain contagious diseases. They pick them up, carry them far away, and dump them so that they don't infect the rest of the colony.
_________________
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
-Blaise Pascal
"...with or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil -that takes religion..."
-Steven Weinberg
"I would bless my children with your destruction instead."
-Someone who shall remain anonymous.

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

this is great...joman...thanks for sharing bro...that was some cool stories...

p38...good info...