Legend of the Keong Mas
Prince Raden Putra was married to a princess named Dewi Limaran. One day when Dewi Limaran was walking in the palace garden, she saw a snail among her lovely flowers and she had one of her servants pick it up and throw it away. The Snail was actually an old witch who had disguised herself as a snail. The witch was very angry, so she cursed Dewi Limaran and changed her into a golden snail and threw it into the river. The stream carried it far away from the palace.
On the side of a big forest, there lived a poor widow. Her living was only fishing. One day it was a particularly bad day as she didn’t catch any fish. Again and again she spread her net, but nothing got caught into it. At last she pulled up the net to go home. Suddenly she saw something shining at the bottom of it. It was only a snail. Nevertheless she picked it up and took it home. Its shell shone like gold the old woman had never seen such a snail before.
At home she put it in an earthen pot. She then went to bed and soon was fast asleep as she was very tired. The next morning when she woke up, she found to her amazement that the floor had been swept clean and there was some food on the table. She wondered who had done all this. She thought she was dreaming, but she was not. She thought and thought but could not think of anybody who could have been so generous to her.
Some days passed….…..she then got an idea. The next morning she took her basket and went out as usual, but shortly she returned to her hut and hid herself. Suddenly she heard a soft movement inside the earthen pot and saw the snail creeping out of it. It grew bigger and bigger and in a moment a lovely young girl stood where the snail had been. The empty shell fell to the ground behind her. Quickly the young girl swept the floor. Then she took rice, vegetables, meat, eggs etc. out of the pot and began cooking.
When the old woman saw all this, she noticed that it was not an ordinary snail she had caught, but a person who lived under a spell, and she knew what she had to do to break it.
She crept stealthily to the empty shell, took it, and then rushed out of the hut to throw it into the river. Now she had broken only a part of the spell, and the rest of it must still be broken before she could return to her husband.
The young girl then made herself known to the old woman.
“I shall pray to the gods that the prince might be led to his place,” said the old woman.
Many years passed by…….
The king persuaded his son to look for another bride, but at first Prince Raden Putra refused as he could not forsake his wife. In the end, however, the prince asked his father if he could go out to find a bride, but one who was a look-alike of his former wife. An old faithful servant accompanied him on his trip.
They went from town to town and from village to village until one day were travelling through a big forest and they lost their way. Finally the men came to a big river and not far from it they saw a hut. They went to it to ask for some food and drink as they were hungry, thirsty and dead tired. The old woman welcomed them warmly. Raden Putra found the meal served by the old woman excellent. She told him that her daughter had prepared it. Raden Putra then asked whether he might meet and thank her daughter. The old woman had no objections and called her daughter to come out. The young girl appeared and knelt down in front of Raden Putra with her head bent.
When Raden Putra saw her, he caught his breath in great surprise as the young girl looked exactly like his former wife princess Dewi Limaran. “You are the bride I’m looking for!” he cried out. But the girl shook her head and said that she had made a promise : when a man wanted to marry her, he had to obtain the holy gamelan ( Javanese orchestra) from heaven which could make music without being touched.
Raden Putra was willing to try and went out into the forest. He then fasted and meditated. After a hundred days the gods heard and granted his wish.
On their wedding day the holy gamelan played its heavenly music. It was so beautiful that every person who heard it felt happier than ever.
The young girl than revealed her secret, that she was Dewi Limaran herself. The music of the gamelan had broken the evil witch’s spell.
The old woman had been invited to remain in the place. Now she had everything she wanted and sorrow had left her forever.
tau dahhh
0komentar
Unless you live near the Earth's equator, you have no doubt noticed that the weather changes during the year: it is hotter during the Summer, colder in Winter, and somewhere in between during Spring and Fall. These are the seasons, a regular change in temperature, that repeat themselves every year, more or less regularly.
What causes these changes? The Sun is our main source of heat, and since these changes are the same every year, it surely has something to do with the movement of the Earth around the Sun. If we get closer to a fire, we get hotter. Could it be then that the Earth gets closer to the Sun during Summer, and farther during Winter? This idea seems at first to have some merit, until we remember that the seasons get reversed when we cross the equator: when it is Summer in the northern hemisphere, it is Winter in the southern one, and vice versa. And surely Argentina is at the same distance from the Sun as the USA!
Besides, that the Earth's orbit is an ellipse, not a circle, so that at some times the Earth is closer to the Sun than at others; but this ellipse is very nearly a circle, and the relatively small differences in distance to the Sun cannot account for the changes in temperature. And to make things worse, the Earth is closer to the Sun during the northern hemisphere Winter!
What, then, is, the cause of the seasons?
In the above animation, you can see the Earth during one full year (the animation then starts over again), as you would if you looked straight at it from the Sun. As you can see, the part of the Earth that is directly facing the sun changes with the time of the year. It is the northern half for a while, then moves south of the equator, only to move back to the north again.
What causes this? The Earth rotates around an imaginary line passing through the poles, called the axis. This line forms an angle (called the tilt) of 23.4° with the perpendicular to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
As the Earth moves around the Sun, this axis stays always pointing in the same direction. This means that, during part of the year, the northern part of the Earth will lean more directly against the sun, and during other parts the southern part will.
What has this to do with temperature? Well, when the northern hemisphere is leaning away from the sun, the rays coming from it hit this part of the Earth at a smaller angle than on other parts of the world. This means that the same amount of light is distributed over a larger surface, and therefore these places receive less heat than the others. The southern hemisphere is experiencing Summer, the northern hemisphere Winter. In half a year, the situation reverses, and it is now Winter in the southern hemisphere since that part of the earth is now leaning away from the sun.
The seasons are then the result of this tilt of the Earth's axis. If the tilt of the Earth's axis was 0° there would be no difference in how the rays from the sun hit its different regions, and there would be no seasons.
Not all planets have the same kind of tilt as the Earth has: Uranus, for example, has a tilt of almost 98°. Its axis, then, lies almost on the plane of its orbit, and a day there lasts about as much as one year on Uranus: about 84 Earth-years.
Kecuali Anda tinggal di dekat khatulistiwa Bumi, Anda tidak ragu menyadari bahwa perubahan cuaca sepanjang tahun: itu adalah panas selama musim panas, dingin di musim dingin, dan di suatu tempat di antara pada Musim Semi dan Gugur. Ini adalah musim, perubahan suhu biasa, yang berulang setiap tahun, lebih atau kurang teratur.
Apa yang menyebabkan perubahan ini? Matahari adalah sumber utama panas, dan karena perubahan ini adalah sama setiap tahun, itu pasti ada hubungannya dengan pergerakan bumi mengelilingi Matahari. Jika kita lebih dekat ke api, kita mendapatkan lebih panas. Mungkinkah kemudian bahwa bumi semakin dekat dengan Matahari selama musim panas, dan lebih jauh selama musim dingin? Ide ini pada awalnya tampaknya memiliki beberapa manfaat, sampai kita ingat bahwa musim mendapatkan dibatalkan pada saat kita lintas khatulistiwa: ketika musim panas di belahan bumi utara, adalah Winter dalam satu selatan, dan sebaliknya. Dan tentu Argentina adalah pada jarak yang sama dari Matahari sebagai Amerika Serikat!
Selain itu, yang mengorbit bumi adalah elips, bukan lingkaran, sehingga beberapa kali Bumi lebih dekat ke Matahari dari pada orang lain, tetapi elips ini sangat hampir lingkaran, dan perbedaan yang relatif kecil dalam jarak ke Matahari tidak dapat account untuk perubahan suhu. Dan untuk membuat hal-hal buruk, Bumi lebih dekat dengan Matahari selama musim dingin belahan bumi utara!
Apa, kemudian, adalah, penyebab musim?
Dalam animasi di atas, Anda dapat melihat Bumi selama satu tahun penuh (animasi kemudian mulai lagi), seperti yang akan Anda jika Anda memandang lurus dari Matahari. Seperti yang Anda lihat, bagian bumi yang langsung menghadapi perubahan matahari dengan waktu tahun. Ini adalah bagian utara untuk sementara waktu, kemudian bergerak selatan khatulistiwa, hanya untuk kembali ke utara lagi.
Apa yang menyebabkan ini? Bumi berputar sekitar garis imajiner melewati kutub, disebut sumbu. Baris ini membentuk sudut (disebut miringkan) sebesar 23.4 ° dengan tegak lurus dengan orbit Bumi mengelilingi Matahari.
Seperti Bumi bergerak mengelilingi Matahari, sumbu ini tetap selalu menunjuk ke arah yang sama. Ini berarti bahwa, selama setengah tahun, bagian utara Bumi akan bersandar lebih langsung terhadap matahari, dan selama bagian lain bagian selatan akan.
Apa yang ini untuk melakukan dengan suhu? Nah, ketika belahan bumi utara condong menjauhi matahari, sinar yang datang dari itu menghantam bagian bumi dengan sudut lebih kecil dari pada bagian-bagian lain dunia. Ini berarti bahwa jumlah cahaya yang sama didistribusikan melalui permukaan yang lebih besar, dan karena itu tempat-tempat ini menerima panas yang lebih sedikit dibandingkan yang lain. Belahan bumi selatan mengalami musim panas, belahan bumi utara Musim Dingin. Dalam setengah tahun, situasi berbalik, dan sekarang musim dingin di belahan bumi bagian selatan sejak bumi sekarang bersandar jauh dari matahari.
Masa ada maka hasil dari kemiringan sumbu bumi. Jika kemiringan sumbu bumi adalah 0 ° tidak akan ada perbedaan dalam bagaimana sinar dari matahari menghantam daerah yang berbeda, dan tidak akan ada musim.
Tidak semua planet memiliki kemiringan yang sama seperti bumi memiliki: Uranus, misalnya, memiliki kemiringan hampir 98 °. sumbu nya, kemudian, terletak hampir di bidang orbitnya, dan hari di sana berlangsung kurang lebih satu tahun di Uranus: sekitar 84 tahun Bumi.
What causes these changes? The Sun is our main source of heat, and since these changes are the same every year, it surely has something to do with the movement of the Earth around the Sun. If we get closer to a fire, we get hotter. Could it be then that the Earth gets closer to the Sun during Summer, and farther during Winter? This idea seems at first to have some merit, until we remember that the seasons get reversed when we cross the equator: when it is Summer in the northern hemisphere, it is Winter in the southern one, and vice versa. And surely Argentina is at the same distance from the Sun as the USA!
Besides, that the Earth's orbit is an ellipse, not a circle, so that at some times the Earth is closer to the Sun than at others; but this ellipse is very nearly a circle, and the relatively small differences in distance to the Sun cannot account for the changes in temperature. And to make things worse, the Earth is closer to the Sun during the northern hemisphere Winter!
What, then, is, the cause of the seasons?
In the above animation, you can see the Earth during one full year (the animation then starts over again), as you would if you looked straight at it from the Sun. As you can see, the part of the Earth that is directly facing the sun changes with the time of the year. It is the northern half for a while, then moves south of the equator, only to move back to the north again.
What causes this? The Earth rotates around an imaginary line passing through the poles, called the axis. This line forms an angle (called the tilt) of 23.4° with the perpendicular to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
As the Earth moves around the Sun, this axis stays always pointing in the same direction. This means that, during part of the year, the northern part of the Earth will lean more directly against the sun, and during other parts the southern part will.
What has this to do with temperature? Well, when the northern hemisphere is leaning away from the sun, the rays coming from it hit this part of the Earth at a smaller angle than on other parts of the world. This means that the same amount of light is distributed over a larger surface, and therefore these places receive less heat than the others. The southern hemisphere is experiencing Summer, the northern hemisphere Winter. In half a year, the situation reverses, and it is now Winter in the southern hemisphere since that part of the earth is now leaning away from the sun.
The seasons are then the result of this tilt of the Earth's axis. If the tilt of the Earth's axis was 0° there would be no difference in how the rays from the sun hit its different regions, and there would be no seasons.
Not all planets have the same kind of tilt as the Earth has: Uranus, for example, has a tilt of almost 98°. Its axis, then, lies almost on the plane of its orbit, and a day there lasts about as much as one year on Uranus: about 84 Earth-years.
Kecuali Anda tinggal di dekat khatulistiwa Bumi, Anda tidak ragu menyadari bahwa perubahan cuaca sepanjang tahun: itu adalah panas selama musim panas, dingin di musim dingin, dan di suatu tempat di antara pada Musim Semi dan Gugur. Ini adalah musim, perubahan suhu biasa, yang berulang setiap tahun, lebih atau kurang teratur.
Apa yang menyebabkan perubahan ini? Matahari adalah sumber utama panas, dan karena perubahan ini adalah sama setiap tahun, itu pasti ada hubungannya dengan pergerakan bumi mengelilingi Matahari. Jika kita lebih dekat ke api, kita mendapatkan lebih panas. Mungkinkah kemudian bahwa bumi semakin dekat dengan Matahari selama musim panas, dan lebih jauh selama musim dingin? Ide ini pada awalnya tampaknya memiliki beberapa manfaat, sampai kita ingat bahwa musim mendapatkan dibatalkan pada saat kita lintas khatulistiwa: ketika musim panas di belahan bumi utara, adalah Winter dalam satu selatan, dan sebaliknya. Dan tentu Argentina adalah pada jarak yang sama dari Matahari sebagai Amerika Serikat!
Selain itu, yang mengorbit bumi adalah elips, bukan lingkaran, sehingga beberapa kali Bumi lebih dekat ke Matahari dari pada orang lain, tetapi elips ini sangat hampir lingkaran, dan perbedaan yang relatif kecil dalam jarak ke Matahari tidak dapat account untuk perubahan suhu. Dan untuk membuat hal-hal buruk, Bumi lebih dekat dengan Matahari selama musim dingin belahan bumi utara!
Apa, kemudian, adalah, penyebab musim?
Dalam animasi di atas, Anda dapat melihat Bumi selama satu tahun penuh (animasi kemudian mulai lagi), seperti yang akan Anda jika Anda memandang lurus dari Matahari. Seperti yang Anda lihat, bagian bumi yang langsung menghadapi perubahan matahari dengan waktu tahun. Ini adalah bagian utara untuk sementara waktu, kemudian bergerak selatan khatulistiwa, hanya untuk kembali ke utara lagi.
Apa yang menyebabkan ini? Bumi berputar sekitar garis imajiner melewati kutub, disebut sumbu. Baris ini membentuk sudut (disebut miringkan) sebesar 23.4 ° dengan tegak lurus dengan orbit Bumi mengelilingi Matahari.
Seperti Bumi bergerak mengelilingi Matahari, sumbu ini tetap selalu menunjuk ke arah yang sama. Ini berarti bahwa, selama setengah tahun, bagian utara Bumi akan bersandar lebih langsung terhadap matahari, dan selama bagian lain bagian selatan akan.
Apa yang ini untuk melakukan dengan suhu? Nah, ketika belahan bumi utara condong menjauhi matahari, sinar yang datang dari itu menghantam bagian bumi dengan sudut lebih kecil dari pada bagian-bagian lain dunia. Ini berarti bahwa jumlah cahaya yang sama didistribusikan melalui permukaan yang lebih besar, dan karena itu tempat-tempat ini menerima panas yang lebih sedikit dibandingkan yang lain. Belahan bumi selatan mengalami musim panas, belahan bumi utara Musim Dingin. Dalam setengah tahun, situasi berbalik, dan sekarang musim dingin di belahan bumi bagian selatan sejak bumi sekarang bersandar jauh dari matahari.
Masa ada maka hasil dari kemiringan sumbu bumi. Jika kemiringan sumbu bumi adalah 0 ° tidak akan ada perbedaan dalam bagaimana sinar dari matahari menghantam daerah yang berbeda, dan tidak akan ada musim.
Tidak semua planet memiliki kemiringan yang sama seperti bumi memiliki: Uranus, misalnya, memiliki kemiringan hampir 98 °. sumbu nya, kemudian, terletak hampir di bidang orbitnya, dan hari di sana berlangsung kurang lebih satu tahun di Uranus: sekitar 84 tahun Bumi.
kuprut
0komentar
Leptomyrmex
is a large, leggy, often colorful genus restricted to eastern Australia, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. The skittish movements and long legs of these distinctive insects give them the common name "spider ants". Some workers in each nest specialize as living storage containers called repletes, their abdomens greatly distended.
An absconding Leptomyrmex darlingtoni worker climbs a small bush with a larva after the photographer has disturbed her nest at the base of the bush. A number of ant species display this absconding behavior upon nest disturbance, possibly as a defense against attacks by subterranean army ants
2.Acromyrmex
is the more diverse of the two leafcutting ant genera (the other is Atta). These distinctive spiny insects cut fresh vegetation to feed to a specialized fungus that grows only in ant nests. The fungus serves as the ants' food source and in return is cultivated and dispersed by the ants. Like all fungus-growing ants, Acromyrmex is found only in the new world tropics and subtropics.
An Acromyrmex balzani worker carries a grass stem back to her nest. Leafcutter species tend to specialize on either broadleaf plants or grasses.
3. Amblyopone
is an ancient group of predaceous ants found worldwide, sometimes called "dracula ants" for the adults' habit of feeding on larval hemolymph. These subterranean ants have elongate mandibles and a characteristic broad posterior attachment of the petiole. Many species are specialist predators of centipedes.
Amblyopone australis
LIFE
Farming Ants: Leafcutters and Fungus Growers
Hundreds of ant species live as farmers in the warmer regions of North and South America. These insects- a single evolutionary radiation- cultivate an edible fungus fed with bits of vegetative debris, or in the case of the leafcutter ants, with live vegetation.
Seed-Harvesting Ants
Granivory has evolved numerous times among the ants, especially in arid regions where seed stores help colonies survive extended periods of dearth.
Cryptic Ants: Life in the Litter
Scarcely noticed by human observers, thousands of cryptic ant species live entirely underground in soil, rotting wood and leaf litter. These small, often blind insects are predators, scavengers, and farmers of root insects.
Army Ants and Other Nomads
Several lineages of ants in the warmer regions of the world have evolved a lifestyle of nomadic predation.
Social Parasites
Images of ants that make their living off the labors of other species.
Tramps & Invaders
The rise of human civilization has brought significant changes to the world's ant fauna. Previously obscure ants thrive in new urban and human-modified landscapes, transforming themselves into damaging pest species. A great many species have risen to global dominance by hitchhiking around with trade, cargo, and commerce.
Trap-Jaw Ants
Several lineages of ants have independently evolved an effective predatory device: spring-loaded mandibles that snap shut on a hair trigger.
STUDY
Myrmecology: the Study of Ants
This gallery style requires that you have javascript enabled, please enable it in your browser settings.
FIGHTING
1. Harvester ants (Aphaenogaster cockerelli) tear apart a queen leafcutter ant (Acromyrmex versicolor) they have caught after a leafcutter mating flight. Ants won't often eat members of their own species, but they will happily consume ants of other species.
2. Leafcutter ants don't normally fight with other types of ants, but they can be brutal towards other leafcutters. Here, a trio of Acromyrmex striatus workers team up to kill an Atta saltensis leafcutter that has wandered into their territory.
3. Nomamyrmex army ants are among the few animals that successfully attack leafcutter ant nests. The leafcutters are not without their defenses. Here two Atta workers attack and kill a Nomamyrmex esenbeckii scout, preventing the army ants from discovering the leafcutter's trail.
4. Azteca alfari Cecropia ants do not tolerate other species on their host tree. When intruders are encountered, the Azteca patrollers work together to pin them down. Interestingly, the offending insects aren't always killed. This Camponotus was simply dragged to the edge of the plant and dropped.
5. Her nest breached by attacking Forelius nigriventris (at right), a fire ant adopts typical defensive position: stinger raised and exuding a droplet of volatile venom.
COMMUNICATION [belom edit]
pheromones. Ants have more developed chemical messages than other related species due to their constant direct contact with the ground. A forager who finds food leaves a pheromone trail along the ground on its way to the place it considers its home. This place is typically located through the use of remembered landmarks and the position of the sun as detected by compound eyes. It can also be through special sky polarization detecting fibers within the eyes.
This pheromone trail will be followed by other ants within a short period of time. The trail is further reinforced as it attracts more ants until the food is exhausted. With the food gone, the trail is no longer reinforced as it fails to further attract ants and slowly dissipates.
This particular behavior would explain how ants are able to easily adapt to changes in the environment. Ants merely leave an established path that has been blocked by an obstacle to find new routes towards its desired location. A successful discovery of another route results to the marking of the new trail by a returning ant, which is usually the shortest way.
The use of pheromone by ants serves other purposes. A crushed ant will emit an alarm pheromone which is capable of sending nearby ants into an attack frenzy when delivered in high concentration. An alarm pheromone in low concentration merely attracts other ants. It can even be used by the ants to confuse their enemies through the so-called propaganda pheromone.
Ants smell with their long, thin antennae, just like other insects. Their antennae are fairly mobile since it has a distinct elbow joint after an elongated first segment. They also come in pairs and are able to provide information about direction as well as intensity. Pheromones enable ants to detect what particular task groups other ants belong to. The queen also produces a certain pheromone that prevents the workers to begin raising new queens. Ants attack and defend themselves by biting or stinging.
It is believed that ants learn behavior by interactive teaching. This is the process by which a follower ant obtains knowledge from the tutoring of the nest-mate teacher. The teacher and the follower are acutely sensitive to the progress of the other.
Wasps are considered the ancestors of ants. However, unlike them, ants usually lose or never develop their wing and thus primarily travel by walking. There are some species of ants that are capable of leaping and gliding.
Gliding is the most common trait among arboreal ants. They use their flattened heads and legs to steer in a controlled fall until they again contact the trunk of the tree from which they fell or leaped to avoid predators. A notable specie that is able to leap is the Jerdon’s Jumping Ant.
There are species of ants that are known to attack and take over the colonies of other ant species. Some may be less of an expansionist but would still attack colonies to steal eggs or larvae which can either be eaten or raised as workers. Some ants rely on captured worker ants to care for them as they are unable to capably feed themselves. One such specie is the Amazon Ant.
is a large, leggy, often colorful genus restricted to eastern Australia, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. The skittish movements and long legs of these distinctive insects give them the common name "spider ants". Some workers in each nest specialize as living storage containers called repletes, their abdomens greatly distended.
An absconding Leptomyrmex darlingtoni worker climbs a small bush with a larva after the photographer has disturbed her nest at the base of the bush. A number of ant species display this absconding behavior upon nest disturbance, possibly as a defense against attacks by subterranean army ants
2.Acromyrmex
is the more diverse of the two leafcutting ant genera (the other is Atta). These distinctive spiny insects cut fresh vegetation to feed to a specialized fungus that grows only in ant nests. The fungus serves as the ants' food source and in return is cultivated and dispersed by the ants. Like all fungus-growing ants, Acromyrmex is found only in the new world tropics and subtropics.
An Acromyrmex balzani worker carries a grass stem back to her nest. Leafcutter species tend to specialize on either broadleaf plants or grasses.
3. Amblyopone
is an ancient group of predaceous ants found worldwide, sometimes called "dracula ants" for the adults' habit of feeding on larval hemolymph. These subterranean ants have elongate mandibles and a characteristic broad posterior attachment of the petiole. Many species are specialist predators of centipedes.
Amblyopone australis
LIFE
Farming Ants: Leafcutters and Fungus Growers
Hundreds of ant species live as farmers in the warmer regions of North and South America. These insects- a single evolutionary radiation- cultivate an edible fungus fed with bits of vegetative debris, or in the case of the leafcutter ants, with live vegetation.
Seed-Harvesting Ants
Granivory has evolved numerous times among the ants, especially in arid regions where seed stores help colonies survive extended periods of dearth.
Cryptic Ants: Life in the Litter
Scarcely noticed by human observers, thousands of cryptic ant species live entirely underground in soil, rotting wood and leaf litter. These small, often blind insects are predators, scavengers, and farmers of root insects.
Army Ants and Other Nomads
Several lineages of ants in the warmer regions of the world have evolved a lifestyle of nomadic predation.
Social Parasites
Images of ants that make their living off the labors of other species.
Tramps & Invaders
The rise of human civilization has brought significant changes to the world's ant fauna. Previously obscure ants thrive in new urban and human-modified landscapes, transforming themselves into damaging pest species. A great many species have risen to global dominance by hitchhiking around with trade, cargo, and commerce.
Trap-Jaw Ants
Several lineages of ants have independently evolved an effective predatory device: spring-loaded mandibles that snap shut on a hair trigger.
STUDY
Myrmecology: the Study of Ants
This gallery style requires that you have javascript enabled, please enable it in your browser settings.
FIGHTING
1. Harvester ants (Aphaenogaster cockerelli) tear apart a queen leafcutter ant (Acromyrmex versicolor) they have caught after a leafcutter mating flight. Ants won't often eat members of their own species, but they will happily consume ants of other species.
2. Leafcutter ants don't normally fight with other types of ants, but they can be brutal towards other leafcutters. Here, a trio of Acromyrmex striatus workers team up to kill an Atta saltensis leafcutter that has wandered into their territory.
3. Nomamyrmex army ants are among the few animals that successfully attack leafcutter ant nests. The leafcutters are not without their defenses. Here two Atta workers attack and kill a Nomamyrmex esenbeckii scout, preventing the army ants from discovering the leafcutter's trail.
4. Azteca alfari Cecropia ants do not tolerate other species on their host tree. When intruders are encountered, the Azteca patrollers work together to pin them down. Interestingly, the offending insects aren't always killed. This Camponotus was simply dragged to the edge of the plant and dropped.
5. Her nest breached by attacking Forelius nigriventris (at right), a fire ant adopts typical defensive position: stinger raised and exuding a droplet of volatile venom.
COMMUNICATION [belom edit]
pheromones. Ants have more developed chemical messages than other related species due to their constant direct contact with the ground. A forager who finds food leaves a pheromone trail along the ground on its way to the place it considers its home. This place is typically located through the use of remembered landmarks and the position of the sun as detected by compound eyes. It can also be through special sky polarization detecting fibers within the eyes.
This pheromone trail will be followed by other ants within a short period of time. The trail is further reinforced as it attracts more ants until the food is exhausted. With the food gone, the trail is no longer reinforced as it fails to further attract ants and slowly dissipates.
This particular behavior would explain how ants are able to easily adapt to changes in the environment. Ants merely leave an established path that has been blocked by an obstacle to find new routes towards its desired location. A successful discovery of another route results to the marking of the new trail by a returning ant, which is usually the shortest way.
The use of pheromone by ants serves other purposes. A crushed ant will emit an alarm pheromone which is capable of sending nearby ants into an attack frenzy when delivered in high concentration. An alarm pheromone in low concentration merely attracts other ants. It can even be used by the ants to confuse their enemies through the so-called propaganda pheromone.
Ants smell with their long, thin antennae, just like other insects. Their antennae are fairly mobile since it has a distinct elbow joint after an elongated first segment. They also come in pairs and are able to provide information about direction as well as intensity. Pheromones enable ants to detect what particular task groups other ants belong to. The queen also produces a certain pheromone that prevents the workers to begin raising new queens. Ants attack and defend themselves by biting or stinging.
It is believed that ants learn behavior by interactive teaching. This is the process by which a follower ant obtains knowledge from the tutoring of the nest-mate teacher. The teacher and the follower are acutely sensitive to the progress of the other.
Wasps are considered the ancestors of ants. However, unlike them, ants usually lose or never develop their wing and thus primarily travel by walking. There are some species of ants that are capable of leaping and gliding.
Gliding is the most common trait among arboreal ants. They use their flattened heads and legs to steer in a controlled fall until they again contact the trunk of the tree from which they fell or leaped to avoid predators. A notable specie that is able to leap is the Jerdon’s Jumping Ant.
There are species of ants that are known to attack and take over the colonies of other ant species. Some may be less of an expansionist but would still attack colonies to steal eggs or larvae which can either be eaten or raised as workers. Some ants rely on captured worker ants to care for them as they are unable to capably feed themselves. One such specie is the Amazon Ant.
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