ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Pugberto]

I was researching the history of Myrmecology, when I came across an interesting paper of "The Ant Plague of Bermuda in the 19th Century"

The evidence were given in accounts from local residents of the island. The ants though match no description to exact detail. They described as the size of a common British ant yet were in great swarms going across roads and trees. They were of the colour black. At this point you're thinking Lasuis Niger, yet when the accounts go into more detail, it became unclear. They would eat pigs, rabbits, chickens and caged birds which were still alive, sometimes even people. They would eat anything sweet. They could walk across the surface of water with ease. No matter where food was they'll be there.

The only ant I could put this description to is of an extinct group of ant which had these traits. Yet went extinct roughly 44 to 47 million years ago. This was known as Formicium Giganteum known in basic terms as the Giant Ant. It's workers were 1 to 3cm in length which is up to an inch in imperial figures and the queen was 5.5cm which is 2 inches with a wingspan of 13cm which 5 inches. They were believed to be very carnivorous eating animals the size of cats and giant birds which are up to the height of 1.5m. This ant was able to walk on water as well. They were common in all tropical forests in most regions in the world.

The downside with this ant as a candidate is that the size doesn't fit size yet some of you maybe aware of one of the rules of evolution is that if an animal finds a small island it will in time become smaller to help fit into the environment. I believe that from one of the rain forests on the mainland of South America or North America a queen Formicium Giganteum found an island on a mutual flight which is known today as Bermuda and become smaller over time and evolve into different sub species. The time the accounts when they arrived were that these ants grew in numbers quickly because of the introduction of more food. These ants therefore would of had a population explosion. They were described as local ants as well. Yet the reason for there disappearance is unknown and that there is no samples of this species.

One question which comes to mind is if this ant is still alive on inhabited islands which biologists have not yet studies in the Caribbean or may have just been ignored by the human eye and not your been brought into the magnifying glass of science. One thing is for certain is that these were only around roughly a hundred years ago, they may just ran out of food and retreated to another island over time.

Any thoughts, views opinions or suggestions on what you think this ant could of been?


Here is the source of information about the "Ant Plague":
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If you wish to find out more about Formicium Giganteum use a search engine or check the Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar Natural History pages.

[badman]

the pdf article says 17th and 19th century. If these ants re-appeared on more than one occasion it seems to me almost as if it could be a local ant species that behaves this way only under certain conditions. Perhaps similar to the behaviour of the locust; in ordinary conditions locusts behave much like grasshoppers, their destructive swarming behaviour is actually a response to overcrowding.

[Pugberto]

I can see where your coming from, perhaps a species of ants that swarm at the right conditions. But why since then has there been no reports of these ants?

[MilitANT]

It's wishful thinking that formicium giganteum still exists yet in a smaller form. I can understand why: they were the largest ants and very interesting in terms of behavior and size. What ant lover wouldn't want the largest species of ant to still be around? It's the same when people bring up the possible existence of the megalodon shark - the largest predatory shark in history. It's over 60 ft long (or larger) and it was the king of the sea. What shark enthusiast wouldn't want that beast to still exist?

But you have to set aside your wishes and desires to think realistically. Formicium giganteum was not native to the island of Bermuda. It's really hard to believe one Queen flew to Bermuda, reproduced and the next generations became smaller. It's more possible that the plague ants were an already native species like the ones listed in the article.

Sorry pugberto but formicium giganteum can't be the ants in the article. It's not realistically possible.

[4mykids]

Good to hear from you MilitANT.

I'm opening the pool tomorrow - Just like every year, I will be skimming out 100's of Queens of a dozen or so different species during the summer.

I'l post pics son - Oh, I like what you said above - makes sense to me.

[Pugberto]

It is hard to say what ant species it was, the description does not fit any of the ants ever recorded so we are dealing with an unknown species which could be alive today. I have a feeling that badmans theory can be true or hold some ground.