Ant antics! Insects show off amazing strength, teamwork

Mish Whalen writes

Ladies and gentlemen! Children of all ages! Welcome to the greatest ant show on Earth!?!

Eko Adiyanto / Caters News Agency

These photos of red ants, also knows as fire ants, make the little insects look like they are performing a circus act. They balance giant seed pods from a Mimosa tree above their heads and hold onto one other in a diamond formation on a tiny plant.  In an amazing show of strength, they also move into different gravity-defying shapes as they carry their food back to the nest for the rest of their hungry ant pals.

Eko Adiyanto/ Caters News Agency

 

These ant antics were photographed for Caters News Agency by Eko Adiyanto, 40, who used a special macro technique to get up super close with the insects.

Eko Adiyanto / Caters News Agency

Eko, from West Java, Indonesia, said: “The ants are so small and to see how much power they have in their tiny bodies is fascinating. There are a lot of insects roaming around near my house and I find it really interesting.”

Eko Adiyanto / Caters News Agency

There are more than 12,000 species of ants all over the world. An ant can lift 20 times its own body weight.

Chris Ford’s son, Jake was one of 4 contest winner on naming the new mobile library. We are so proud. Jake called the library Techno Libby.

Look for Jake in the Telegram and Gazette. Below is a link to the story: http://www.telegram.com/article/20120501/NEWS/120509933/1116

Ford's Hometown Services Group Photo

The day of our group photo I could hear Bob, Chris and Geoff Ford commenting on what a great group of employees we have. Our turf sales specialist Jim Sniffen also is a professional photographer (as you can see) and captured our team wonderfully. From our professional Lawn Care & Pest Control Technicians to our Customer Service, we strive to make our customers pest and weed-free. For a free estimate or information, call 1-800-649-9992.

Our very own Anthony Marconi who performs all of our “Bug Club” Birthday Party’s also is responsible for all the insect care,cleaning and feeding. He takes his job very seriously, unlike the office staff who thought it was the funniest thing when he was cleaning the inside of the glass to the iguana enclosure. We decided if we kept him in there, we would be responsible to feed and water the bugs in our live insect display, so we let him back out. Anthony will make sure you childs birthday party is something special that they will always remember. Go to the BUG CLUB section of our website for more information or email a_marconi@charter.net, or call 1-800-649-9992.

Because of the extra-mild winter this year, the early spring could bring an unwelcome guest: the tick. Be warned: The warmer weather is good news for people and pets who want to be outside, but beware of an uptick of the hard-to-detect pest.

The basic reason is that the eggs will hatch sooner. “Eggs are already in the ground, but this is the time that they will be coming out in great numbers,” said Pollie Rueda, an entomologist stationed at theSmithsonian and Walter Reed Army institute of Research. He noted that the normal tick season is from May through August, but with the 70-degree temperatures in some places, the ticks may get a jump on the season.

Ticks that are already out and about are the visible adult, sesame-sized ones, noted Kristen Nordlund of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Think of these little buggers as the arachnid form of vampires. They hang out in blades of grass for a host to come along — a mouse, a dog, or a human — to attach themselves and feed off your blood over days, or until discovered, and they often leave disease behind — sometimes multiple illnesses.

The big concern for humans, according to the CDC, is that most tick infections occur during the “nymph” stage. Those recently hatched ticks are the size of the period at the end of this sentence, and they have four sets of legs and the ability to suck your blood. Because they are essentially invisible, preying on a host can easily go undetected.

In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36-48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted. Infections from ticks, such as Lyme disease (plus babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and anaplasmosisis), are on the rise and are difficult to diagnose. The symptoms are awful: from headaches to long-term joint pain and even heart problems.

Since 1992, the cases of Lyme disease have doubled, according to the CDC, and more than 21,000 cases are reported every year.

The CDC is conducting tests on actual households to confirm if spraying a pesticide in the backyard helps to reduce the incidence of human disease. Check its website for good information on preventive measures.

“This was just a wild experiment to do,” Galit Shohat-Ophir, the lead researcher, told Science, where the findings were published. “We didn’t expect to see such dramatic results.”

Via the report:

The scientists put 24 male fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) in one of two situations. Half the males were placed in vials in groups of four, each group with 20 female flies that were ready to mate, allowing the males to mate with multiple females. The other half of the males were put alone in vials, each with one female that had already mated, making her reject any courtship advances. After 4 days of repeated mating or rejection, the male flies were moved to new containers, with capillaries containing food mash—some with alcohol and others without—that they could eat.

Shohat-Ophir said that a chemical in the male fruit-fly brain called neuropeptide F likely caused them to drown their sorrows following rejection, but that more research is needed.

Nonetheless, the link between sexual rejection and alcohol is important, scientists say. “We are really hoping that this will encourage those working with mice and rats and humans to look at what happens to this neuropeptide in psychiatric conditions,” Ulrike Heberlein, one of the researchers, told Bloomberg News.

By Dylan Stableford

Yahoo News

Our brave Donna was working the Worcester Home Show and showed off ”Lucille” the Ball Python to interested patrons. I don’t know how she got the snake to pose so well for this photo. Stop by and see our insect display at 549 Grove Street, Worcester, Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.