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An ancient amber fossil has offered scientists new insights into the deadly hunting prowess of the "hell ant" species Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri.
The 99-million-year-old amber, unearthed in Myanmar, trapped a member of the Haidomyrmecine subfamily -- the group known as hell ants -- just as the predator snatched a cockroach relative with its scythe-like mandibles.
Animal behavior rarely becomes fossilized, and fossilized hunting behavior is especially elusive. The hell ant fossil, described Thursday in the journal Current Biology, is a one-of-a-kind find.
Journal Reference:
Phillip Barden. Specialized Predation Drives Aberrant Morphological Integration and Diversity in the Earliest Ants, Current Biology (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.106)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 10 2020, @03:09PM (1 child)
Pain is one thing. Not being bitten or stung is something else entirely. Typically, I can be bitten a few times, and not realize it - a single bite doesn't hurt much. It's later, though, when the bite blisters up, burns and itches, that you really regret your carelessness.
The son doesn't get bitten or stung. Weird stuff!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2020, @08:25PM
When I was a kid in NC, I dug up fire ant nests in the backyard (to put them in those big glass pickle jars, and watch what they did to the other bugs, or when I filled it halfway with water), never got stung or bitten. Never been stung by a bee or wasp either.