Creepy Animals

…they're really interesting.

Aug 1 2011

Honeypot Ant

Honeypot Ant filled with liquid food.

Gluttony.

 

Two Honeypot Ants in habitat.

Greed.

 

Honeypot Ant in underground colony.

Sloth.

The Honeypot Ant is the perfect metaphor for how to survive in the post-consumer world: save and spend when needed. Just two easy steps.

1. SAVE

When food is abundant, the honeypot ant gets it’s nom on courtesy of other worker ants that feed it till it’s nearly bursting at the seams. The ant converts the food into a sweet liquid-y substance which is stored within the swollen abdomen. In this state the ant can balloon to the size of a grape, unable to move much within the colony walls.

2. SPEND WHEN NEEDED

When food is scarce, the honeypot ants regurgitate their stored nectar to feed their nest mates. According to Wikipedia, ‘in certain places, they are eaten by people as sweets and are considered a delicacy.’ Who’s hungry now?

Special thanks to dear reader Marcie for sending us this little treat. “Sloth” photo by Greg Hume.

Thing of nightmares!

The “sloth” image was published on Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. You are free to use the image, but are required to provide attribution. “Photo by Greg Hume”

WOW!! very interesting! 🙂

If only you could store your fats in another person then get them only needed. *sigh*

remember Starship Troopers?

hmmmmm very interesting