Sanctuary of Safety, Curious Questions, Ant Buddy

Photo#1 Front view. Enlarge it for better viewing!

Photo#2  Back view. The latest tunnel is just to the left. It seems to reach to the top, but not quite there yet. See where they congregate on the far right? I call it the sanctuary of safety.

Photo#3 View from the side. Notice build up of gel debris at the surface. Looks like snow.

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It’s getting harder to find the newest tunnel amidst the serpentine subways of the crystal-like blue gel habitat, but there is a new tunnel to show off today. The pictures show the new tunnel taking shape at the back side of the habitat. It starts at the very bottom on the back side, and reaches up like a slender tornado toward the surface. At 7:30 this morning, it was only a mere 1/8" from breaking through the surface, but when I got home today from a school committee meeting, I could see that it broke the surface nicely.

I am certain that the lower left area of the bottom tunnel is their chamber for sleeping. Although it is not singly cavernous compared to the other tunnels, the ants have done a wonderful thing here. I didn’t realize this earlier, but now that I’ve thought on it, and observed them over a few days, that is my conclusion. I will try to describe the arrangement they have created for themselves:

Try to imagine the two horizontal tunnels running parallel along the bottom length of the habitat. Each of these are completely open against the acrylic walls. Visibility is good here. Looking from the front, beginning from the left side, the two parallel tunnels are connected by a perpendicular short tunnel, or short-cut as I call it, along the short left side wall. When I hold the habitat up to view it in the light, the side tunnel is cut out up to the acrylic wall. I can see into it, no obstructions. Now, imagine, about an inch along the long parallel horizontal tunnels, there is a vertical tunnel that cuts directly to the surface at almost a 90 degree angle, and where they join is a short-cut tunnel, about ½ in length, connecting the parallel tunnels, creating a five-way intersection. Then, just a half-inch further along the parallel horizontal tunnel is another vertical tunnel reaching to the surface, and another shortcut connecting the horizontal tunnels, creating another five-way intersection. It is here, between and within these two five-way intersections, that all of the ants gather in the deepest, largest open space, where they feel the safest, I presume. This must be what one would call “home.” (It's best seen from the back view in photo#2 above.)

I remove two dead ants today. It is easy this time, and I don't have to refrigerate them first. I had noticed that all the sisters were down below in the sanctuary of safety, snoozing or snacking, I couldn’t tell which without the magnifying glass. I thought “Hey, this would be a great time to remove the dead ants from the surface. I can get them out before the others realize the lid is off.” Carefully, I pry up the lid, my eyes on the slumbering insects, careful not to startle them. As I lift the lid, one light sleeper scurries up, but she takes the long road, and I deftly tweeze out the two dead ones, replacing the lid before she appears at the tunnel entrance. She sends the alarm and all her sisters scramble into various tunnels. They seem so excited, and crawl all over the surface, the walls, the ceiling, but within seconds they have calmed down again.

I have thought of some experiments I could do in the classroom, or on my own. When you look at the ants in their little artificial world (I am apologetic, but I’ve got to move forward with this project), you wonder things. Things like, I wonder what they would do if half of their habitat felt cooler than the other half? Would they scurry to the cooler side? The warmer side? Or would they be indifferent to the change in temperature?

Or, what if I had two ant habitats, one in darkness and one in light, would their tunneling efforts be different? Or, it would be really interesting to have a colony with a queen and eggs to see how the ants behave differently. I wonder if my ants sleep so much because they have nothing to do after a tunnel is completed.

Or, what about the effects of sound on ants? We could play music periodically, making sure the sound waves reach the habitat. Would this affect the ants? How?

Lots of curious questions surface as I watch them. I'm thinking children could do the same thing... look, wonder, take notes, write journals.

My husband found an ant colony in our yard yesterday, and he came to me and said, “Do you still want a queen ant?” I asked, “Did you find one?” He said, as we walked out the door, “Well, there’s a colony out here, so there must be a queen.” We walked several yards into the grass, near the woods, and there in the lawn was a busy community of little red ants, their numerous tunnels visibly gaping from the red clay particles spread all around. “Yep, that looks like a colony, but I have no way of keeping them right now. I’d have to have the ant farm ready before we dig them up.” We stood and looked at them awhile, watching them carry what may have been eggs into the holes. Looked like they were moving in to a new home. I sighed. Someday, I thought. My next science project.

I talked to my "Ant Buddy" today. That's what Linda called me when we met for school business. She grinned when she said it. I guess she is as amused as I am that we have been caught up in this quest to learn more about ants. Bitten by the bug, I suppose. I told her I want to compare our habitats, to see how different the tunnels are. They should be similar since the ants came from the same colony. That's my theory. When we get them together, I'll take pictures and post them here to satisfy your curiosity as well. I know you're just dying to find out!

I watched the Space Shuttle Discovery land yesterday morning, and like everyone else, felt very relieved that the astronauts made it home safely.

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