Formikarium

 

Ibland blir man trött på...jag vet inte...kineser eller nåt.

Illegal handel med jättemyror hotar ekosystem

Germany has fallen

 

Credit: Christian Fischer

The invasion has begun...

Germany battles aggressive outbreak of poisonous caterpillars

Good news or soylent bees?

 

A propos Anton´s latest video on YouTube: like everyone else, I assumed the "bizarre discovery" was that honeybees EAT DEAD HUMAN BODIES and that this somehow ends up in our honey, making it SOYLENT GREEN. 

Instead, the (non)bizarre discovery is that millions of mining bees live at a New York cemetery and turn out to be extremely important pollinators of commercial crops (in this case, apples). Which might mean that the "bee apocalypse" has been postponed...again. Thank god, by the way!

I prefer apples to soylent any day.  

On the Wallace line

 

- Nah, if you try and steal the butterflies, I just call my grandmama Kali! 

Lord of the Flies

Some fun facts (or factoids?) about the space rock we currently inhabit. From Wikipedia, I believe.

>>>Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. 

>>>Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within.

>>>In 1982, Terry Erwin published an estimate of global species richness of 30 million, by extrapolating from the numbers of beetles found in a species of tropical tree. In one species of tree, Erwin identified 1,200 beetle species, of which he estimated 163 were found only in that type of tree. Given the 50,000 described tropical tree species, Erwin suggested that there are almost 10 million beetle species in the tropics. 

>>>In 2011 a study published in PLoS Biology estimated there to be 8.7 million ± 1.3 million eukaryotic species on Earth. A 2016 study concludes that Earth is home to 1 trillion species.

The good news is that most of that trillion aren´t insects. The bad news is that they are...micro-organisms! Either way, we live on Bug Planet. And God is the Lord of flies.

Lovecraft´s Lucia

 

- You *do* know that we are evolutionary cousins, right?
- Nah, I´m a special creation. God loves beetles! 

Just watched a rather boring French docu about the evolution (or is it EVIL-ution) of insects. Apparently, Lucia (or LUCIA = Last Universal Common Insect Ancestor) was a crustacean which crawled out of the ocean...and the rest is history. Hundreds of millions of years of history, to be exact. 

No surprise there. I mean, the idea that fleas, locusts and termites (or the praying mantis!) are ultimately derived from a primordial cousin to crayfish and crabs does make a certain intuitive sense. They are equally eerie and unsettling. Like some stuff straight out of Lovecraft.

Although I have to say that arachnids are even worse. Where did *they* come from, I wonder? Color out of space?  

    

Dude

 

Credit: Shree Ganesh

A propos two previous blog posts. God loves bizarre ants. Adjust your theological speculations accordingly. We will now resume our regular broadcast. Thank you. 

Xenoparity

 

Biggest science news of the decade, nay, century? Not even sure if I understand this. 

Apparently, the Iberian harvester ant (Messor ibericus) has a very peculiar life cycle. For some reason, mating between "normal" males and queens can´t produce workers, only other males and queens. The queens therefore have to mate with males from a *completely different ant species* in order to produce hybrid workers. This other species is known as Messor structor. This is apparently considered a form of parasitism, presumably because the sperm of M. structor is effectively "stolen" by the M. ibericus queens to produce infertile workers for ibericus colonies.

Unexpectedly, colonies of the Iberian harvester ant have hybrid workers even in areas where there are no Messor structor ants, including at islands. This is where it gets weird. Really weird. Scientists have apparently found structor males inside ibericus nests even in areas where structor simply doesn´t appear in the wild?! Further research suggests that Messor ibericus queens can "clone" Messor structor males. Yes: ants of one species can have offspring of an entirely different species!

WTF?!

It´s not clear to me whether the Iberian queen mates with her own offspring in truly incestuous fashion to produce the workers, or whether another queen gets the honor, but the point is that there seems to be an entire "slave race" within the Iberian colonies, a "clonal lineage" of structor males bred for the sole purpose to father the hybrid worker-caste and then die. 

Nor is it clear to me how this could even work. I assume the sperm of Messor structor must have been "harvested" at some point in the distant past (perhaps thousands of years ago) and is now passed on somehow by the Messor ibericus queens. Which makes me wonder for how long this can continue, if the sperm deteriorates, and so on. Frankly, I had to read this stuff about five times before I got *some* kind of inkling about what on earth these guys are even talking about!

But yes, it does sound like science fiction. Especially since the two relevant species aren´t even closely related, having diverged evolutionarily about five million years ago. But perhaps what´s five million years to Man is only one day to Ant?    

Almost like science fiction: European ant "clones" members of another species

One mother for two species (the original scientific paper)

On a planet alien

 

Japanese scientists found a bizarre species of ant (bizarre *even* for ants, that is) which consist entirely of parasitic queens which reproduce by virgin birth ("cloning") and then hijack colonies of other ant species. Again: welcome to planet Earth, visitor! Where every ant is a queen...

Every ant is a queen in this parasitic species

Back to Godhead

 

Since totemism is "the world´s oldest religion", I semi-seriously wonder what´s my spirit-animal? And yes, I´m aware that totems and spirit-animals aren´t the same thing. But I can´t really contact my tribal ancestors 250,000 years ago, can I now?

I´ve always found magpies to be somewhat sympathetic (don´t tweet at me, bruh) so I suppose Pica pica pica might be it, I mean that Latin name is hilarious! And yes, it simply means "magpie magpie magpie". 

Another possibility is the black swan, since it´s a good symbol for sudden and unexpected spiritual enlightenment. You know, a black swan event. 

I´m somewhat partial to ants and termites, too...

Bird brains disprove materialism

 

Scientists have finally started to use "the brains God gave geese" and realized that (non-human) animals are - wait for it - conscious?! I mean, maaaan, who knew? Or was it *self*-conscious? Same thing.

No surprise there. But thanks for noticing, I suppose. What´s more intriguing is that different kinds of brains can give rise to the same kind of (self)-consciousness. Brainy creatures mentioned in the video above include humans, birds (and not just the inevitable corvids), crocs and even ants. 

So how can entirely distinct kinds of physical structures cause animals to be equally conscious? Please don´t tell the Idealists, LOL. 

Therefore God. 

On the cryptid cusp

 

A video entitled "The Most Mysterious Cryptids in the World". Somewhat ironically, many of them seem more plausible than the regular cryptids?! Perhaps because we are dealing with actual physical evidence. Or even strange species theorized to exist, which were later actually discovered.

Of course, there are some exceptions. I mean, "Strange Creatures Seldom Seen" is obviously a collection of folklore or even talltales, so don´t worry, no super-sized woodpecker larger than an eagle will corner you in the Canadian outback! Well, I hope...

Could be of some passing interest.

Goddess before Man?

 

The Shakti communicating with an intelligent species on Terra Prime. 

Myggornas planet

 

- Kan det vara myggor, kanske?

Myggor har varit "evolutionärt stabila" (och sett ut ungefär som idag) i 100 miljoner års tid. Anatomiskt moderna människor har bara funnits i omkring 300 000 års tid! Jag menar, vad fan...

Har dock inte förstått vem de ettriga tvåvingarna drack blod ifrån "när det begav sig". Varmblodiga dinosaurier?

100 miljoner år gamla myggor funna i bärnsten

The light-bringer

 

Guess what, guyz? They discovered a new species of bee in Australia. The bee has horns (?!) so the scientists named it after...you guessed it...Lucifer. No plausible deniability there, LOL. 

It´s full scientific name is Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer. Or just Megachile lucifer if the concept of subgenus makes your head spin. 

Now, we eagerly await all the conspiracy theories on the web about the devil´s new bee, the Club of Rome, and what have you!

Devilishly distinctive new bee discovered in Australia

A spring without bees

- Yes, I´m a genetically modified bee! Any probs?

Please read the plot summary of this movie at Wikipedia below! Strangest take so far on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), aliens, flat earth and conspiracy theory?

Bugonia (film)

Nuke da roach

 

I removed an earlier blog post about cockroaches and nuclear war, since I´m no longer certain about ChatGPT´s anwers to my questions...

The white pill?

 

So the disappearence and mass death of the Western honeybee has been solved. Not by Anthroposophical organic farming, zero population growth or a ban on eating honey. But by high technology, specifically the invention of a new pollen substitute which can feed the bee colonies indefinitely. 

Western (and therefore modern) civilization has been saved. Cornucopia next? 

Or no?

Ants can dream

 

So I asked the AI about some strange claims I encountered lately...

Is it true that ants can dream (rapid antenna movement)? Is it true that ants have self-awareness (the ant with a blue dot on his head which looked at his reflection in a mirror and realized that it was a dot on *his* head and tried to remove it)?

These are fascinating questions, and both refer to real scientific observations—but the conclusions people draw from them are debated. Here's a breakdown of each claim:

---

💤 1. Do Ants Dream? (Rapid Antenna Movement = REM?)

Claim:

Ants show rapid antenna movement (RAM) during rest, which some researchers have compared to REM sleep in mammals, potentially indicating dreaming.

What’s Actually Known:

• A 2022 study on carpenter ants (Camponotus mus) found they experience two distinct sleep-like states during rest:

  1. One state of immobility,

  2. Another involving rapid antenna movement (RAM) and twitching.

• This is analogous to REM sleep, which is associated with dreaming in mammals.

Is it dreaming?

• No direct evidence shows that ants have dreams or inner mental experiences.

• RAM might serve other purposes (e.g., memory consolidation, sensory processing).

• Dreaming requires a complex internal model of the world, which it's not clear ants have.

✅ Conclusion:

• Interesting finding, but saying ants "dream" is speculative.

• The behavior resembles aspects of REM sleep but doesn't prove subjective dreaming.

---

🪞 2. Do Ants Have Self-Awareness? (Mirror Test with Blue Dot)

Claim:

A study found that an ant marked with a blue dot on its head looked in a mirror and tried to remove the dot—suggesting self-recognition and perhaps self-awareness.

What’s Actually Known:

• In 2019, a paper by Edwardo Gallup and colleagues (not to be confused with the mirror test's originator, Gordon Gallup) described mirror test experiments with ants (specifically Camponotus floridanus).

• Ants with a visible mark (like a blue dot) tried to touch or clean the marked area only when a mirror was present.

• This behavior was not observed in unmarked ants or ants with invisible marks.

🧠 Interpretation:

• Some interpreted this as passing the mirror test, which is often used as a proxy for self-awareness in animals (e.g., great apes, dolphins, elephants).

• However, many scientists are skeptical:

  • Ants might be using visual cues from the mirror in a non-self-reflective way.

  • The mirror might simply be treated as part of the environment, not as a reflection of the self.

  • Ants have very different neural architecture from vertebrates, raising questions about how “self” would even operate.

✅ Conclusion:

• The behavior is intriguing and unusual for an insect.

• But it's controversial to claim ants are self-aware—most scientists remain cautious or skeptical.

• The mirror test itself has been criticized as species-biased and not a definitive indicator of self-awareness.

---

🧾 Bottom Line:

Claim	Verdict	Notes
Ants dream (via RAM)	🟡 Speculative	Behavior suggests sleep states, but dreaming is unproven.
Ants have self-awareness (mirror test)	🔴 Controversial / Unproven	The blue-dot study is interesting but far from conclusive.

Ants are remarkably sophisticated for their size—capable of learning, memory, communication, and even complex social structures—but equating their behavior with human-like consciousness or self-awareness is still a big leap.

If you're curious, I can also compare ants to other animals that show similar borderline traits (like octopuses, bees, or magpies).

Understated

 

LOL. My nostalgic revisits of old Amazon customer reviews continue. Yes, this is a sequel to the "Apollo cult" stuff. Brace yourselves...

Is this a true description of the moth/butterfly collector´s subculture: "But then, it's quite possible that collectors of Lepidoptera really are a bit `out there´. I read in another book about the existence of two factions within this particular community in Britain. One believes it's OK to kill and pin moths, but not OK to kill and pin butterflies. Another faction doesn't want to kill moths either. (Presumably, there is also a third faction who wants to kill'em all.) Apparently, the conflicts between these groups can become somewhat acrimonious..."

Yes, that description is broadly true — and even understated. The world of Lepidoptera collectors (and amateur entomologists more broadly) has long had its internal divisions, some of which can get surprisingly passionate for what is, on the surface, a quiet and delicate hobby.

Here’s how those dynamics break down:

---

🦋 1. The "Moth vs. Butterfly" Split

✔️ Real and observed.
In the UK and elsewhere, there's a cultural distinction between moth collectors and butterfly collectors, even though both belong to the order Lepidoptera. Historically:

• Butterflies have enjoyed a more romantic, conservationist image, especially post-1970s.

• Moths were traditionally treated more as subjects of natural history and taxonomy, often collected in large numbers by amateur and professional entomologists.

Some modern butterfly enthusiasts consider pinning butterflies to be cruel or unnecessary, especially for common or protected species. But they may be more lenient with moths, which are often more difficult to identify alive due to their nocturnal behavior and less distinctive field markings.

Thus you sometimes get "split positions":

• ✔️ Kill-and-pin moths: OK

• ❌ Kill-and-pin butterflies: Not OK

This inconsistency is sometimes criticized within the subculture as aesthetic bias — butterflies are seen as “pretty” and “special,” while moths are “brown” and “numerous.” Some collectors find this logic incoherent, which leads to…

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⚔️ 2. Ethical Conflict & Acrimony

✔️ Also real.
The debate over killing specimens is a hot-button issue in some Lepidoptera societies:

• Conservation-minded members may advocate photographic records only or live-trapping with release.

• Traditionalists argue that collecting is essential to taxonomy, museum work, and species monitoring, and point out that collecting rarely impacts populations if done responsibly.

• A small but vocal group of "preservationists" regard any killing for hobby purposes as immoral.

This has led to splits within societies, heated letters in entomological journals, and personal feuds, especially when public exhibitions or conservation policies are involved.

---

🐛 3. The “Kill-’Em-All” Faction

✔️ Exists — but rare today.
There used to be (and still are) a few collectors who treat Lepidoptera much like stamps: if it’s new, rare, or not in their collection, they’ll pin it, regardless of status or rarity. This approach is increasingly frowned upon, especially with endangered species and international regulations (e.g., CITES).

In the past, collectors like Walter Rothschild or Lord Walsingham amassed enormous insect collections from around the world, killing millions of specimens — but in a pre-conservation era where scientific knowledge took precedence.

Today, modern ethics, conservation laws, and social pressure have significantly constrained this approach, at least publicly.

---

📚 In Summary

Yes, the Lepidoptera collector subculture can be:

• Quirky

• Internally divided

• Occasionally acrimonious, especially over ethics

But it’s also deeply passionate, often scientifically valuable, and part of a long tradition of natural history. Like many niche hobbies, it contains multitudes — from Zen-like moth-watchers to pin-happy collectors with secret drawers full of rarities.