New outworld is cleaned and landscaped for my Camponotus nicobarensis. I’m going to add some “leaf litter” I would try isopods or springtails… but the girls are so excited to murder— let’s see if they destroy the moss tufts first.
They are also going to put the black dirt all over the place— but that’s the ant way.
They are such little twerps look how they have ruined it. LMAO.
They are moulding the mud into little huts to hang out in. They have more than enough nest space, so this is just pure spite for my landscaping efforts.
At least they are busy which I assume is the same thing as having fun for ants.
This colony loves to build with wet sand and soil. So, I kind of knew this might happen. This is what they made a few months ago when I gave them wet sand.
@futurebird i want to create a field guide to ant species by their sand art. introduce a bunch of ants you want to key out into a petri dish of wet sand, key out the pattern they make. no dissecting scope and freezing the ants necessary! @alexwild
@futurebird
Description of it as an 'outworld' has me imagine the ants' nest as a starship on a grand voyage of exploration through the cosmos - with the ants discovering a new planet and immediately going "Prime Directive? what? lol" and gleefully, carefully terraforming the place in their image before moving on.
(I'm now expecting there to be actual, uninhabited exoplanets out there with extensive ant-like improvements...)
@coprolite9000@futurebird I already have terrifying visions of a planet inhabited by cat-sized intelligent ants ready to venture out into the stars from following @futurebird …
With some terrarium and aquarium pets you can "landscape" your little slice of nature. Provide nice things for you pets and make it look nice.
This is not the case with ants. Ants change whatever environment you give them. If there is soil, they move it and build things, same with plant material. This is the effect of keeping a colony in a small area. Ants are into terraforming. They look at your moss garden and say "we can make this better"
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