Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
Something strange is happening with yellowjackets in Alabama.
To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama. Specialists say it could be the result of a mild winter and drought conditions, or multiple queens forcing worker yellow jackets to enlarge their quarters so the queens will be in separate areas. But experts haven't determined exactly what's behind the surprisingly large nests.
Auburn University entomologists, who say they've never seen the nests so large, have been fielding calls about the huge nests from property owners from Dothan up to Sylacauga and over into west-central Alabama's Black Belt. At one site in Barbour County, the nest was as large as a Volkswagen Beetle. [...]
The largest nest Ray has inspected this year filled the interior of a weathered 1955 Chevrolet parked in a rural Elmore County barn. That nest was about the size of a tire in the rear floor seven weeks ago, but quickly spread to fill the entire vehicle, the property owner, Harry Coker, said. Four satellite nests around it have gotten into the eaves of the barn, about 300 yards from his home. [...]In previous years, a yellow jacket nest was no larger than a basketball, Ray said. It would contain about 3,000 workers and one queen. These gigantic nests may have as many as 100,000 workers and multiple queens. [...]
"We're not really sure how this multiple queen thing works," Ray said. "It could be that the daughters of the original queen don't leave the nest or that the queens have developed some way to cooperate." Ray examined a collected nest from Macon County to count the queens in it. "We found 12 queens so far, so that's definitely a factor."
Via The Anomalist.
TrackBackObviously, feminists need to study this phenomena to figure out how queens can live together and take over the world. (evil laugh)
Posted by: owlmother at August 22, 2006 11:08 AM*looks at picture*
*looks again*
I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever sleep again.
Posted by: Ashley at August 22, 2006 11:53 AM"the queens have developed some way to cooperate."
Carve this into rocks all over the place so that future archaeologists will have a clue as to what ended civilization. Think we have a few days? Weeks, maybe?
Slightly more seriously, this summer is the first growing season after Katrina devastated the regional ecological systems. I'd bet that has something to do with the extraordinary behavior.
Posted by: froz gobo at August 23, 2006 08:20 AMWe've also got to look out for the psycho killer raccoons:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2342208&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
Posted by: Charles Watkins at August 23, 2006 06:47 PMRaccoons are not native to the Northwest - what happened?
I understand that fire ants similarly have multiqueen colonies and have been devastating Southern small vertebrates - any news on that front?
Posted by: PutzheadTom at August 23, 2006 11:59 PMIt's been absolutely devastating, I tell you!
Posted by: Southern small vertebrate at August 24, 2006 12:39 AMThanks, ssv. Okay, now can we get a report from the mega-supercolonies of Argentine ants in Europe, California and Australia?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0418_020418_TVantcolony.html
http://www.perceptions.couk.com/superants.html
www.ruf.rice.edu/~evolve/pdf/Pax_Argentinica.pdf
Without a cold winter to kill them this year, the yellow jackets continued feeding in January and February … "They were able to find food to colony through the winter," Ray said in a telephone interview.
Hmmm. That must mean supercolonies of yellow jackets may have been common during the Medieval Warm Period. Nothing here, folks; move along.
Posted by: PutzheadTom at August 24, 2006 07:34 AMThe insects are forming empires!
And maybe it wasn't the plague that killed all those Medieval people. Maybe it was yellowjackets!!!
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at August 24, 2006 12:32 PMWe're cool, Tom, thanks for asking and pass our love to LuAnn.
Posted by: Mega-Supercolonies of Argentine Ants at August 24, 2006 04:15 PMOne of the main side effects of Argentine ants forming mega-supercolonies is an increasing incidence of comma splices in their written communications. Nobody is quite sure why.
Posted by: apostropher at August 24, 2006 04:46 PMThat's what I was talking about. It's just devastating.
Posted by: Southern small vertebrate at August 24, 2006 05:13 PMYou should cut those ants a break, apo, what with English being a second language for them and everything.
Or is this the reconquista I keep hearing so much about? Is it the rebirth of Antztlan??
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at August 24, 2006 05:57 PMJust wait humans; it's our turn next! We'll punctuate YOU!!!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1025_021025_GiantHornets.html
http://hungryhyaena.blogspot.com/2005/09/encounter-with-asian-giant-hornet.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZeeslLs-b10&mode=related&search=
