Everyone forgets that ants make silk (as do bees who also make wax... the show offs) ants don't just use silk to protect their eggs and pupae like many arthropods. Some ants use silk in nest construction. Which puts them in the company of spiders. The way that ants use silk also requires TWO or more ants to pull it off. Several weaver ants hold leaves close together. Then another ant picks up her baby larvae sister and taps her to tell her to make silk. She then cements the leaves together.
https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/113497654826721261
@futurebird i remember reading somewhere that the larvae even have some control over how much silk they produce and can withhold it if they believe their resources are running too thin, which […]
@futurebird I never learned that. Interesting. All ants or just some species?
@futurebird That's very on-brand for ants! You may just be an incompletely developed blob, but by golly, you're going to be a helpful and productive blob who is Making A Contribution!
@futurebird
Ants use child labor?
@futurebird is it just the larval stage like silk worms and caterpillars or can the adults make it too?
@futurebird
Community working together
2024-11-17 llewelly ┃ edited ┃ 2🔗 8#️ 1👤 1💬
@futurebird
to me it's fascinating that silk has evolved apparently many times in arthropods ... and, also, clams!
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Like birds building nests, and spiders building webs, and bees and their wax combs much of this behaviour is "instinct." But, it can't be a totally automatic process. All of these creatures […]
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