Submitted via IRC for RandomFactor
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: 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.