Skip to contentGradients and transitions in the colony.Auto & Allogrooming. Temporal polyethism (Nurse, Midden, Foraging). Possibility for a unified mind that makes decisions at a slower level (at very least this is “as if” for decisions which influence the colony as a whole). A stochastic model of ant trail formation and maintenance in static and dynamic environments Connecting to multiple pheromone models. Single? Two with fast/slow decay? Multiple with modulator/tradeoff 3rd pheromone/mind?
“Spatiotemporal resource distribution and foraging strategies of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)” (M. Lanan 2014) — this is an example of review paper across Deborah has worked with several other ant systems — in Mexico, and also ecologies. Further, she has always taken a broad , including ones we “But I suspect that focusing on a single species can give an incomplete and misleading view of what is going on in general.”Right. This is why with we are able to take species-specific (really experiment-specific unique biological data) and make sense of it within a broader theoretical framework (EcoEvoDevo). ..Absolutely. There are always complex genomic and epigenomic variants, within and across species (e.g. variation in coding/non-coding sequences, and structural variants, of Odorant receptors and other related proteins). This question of the variability and stability of different subtypes of odorant receptors, has always been major area of genomics research in ants. The genomic architecture and molecular evolution of ant odorant receptors (2018)Also it is far more complex than genes being turned on or off. Every cell is regulating a discrete/finite amount of RNA products, including non-coding, small RNA, etc. & there is RNA modification. This is why/how Systems Biology approaches, or multi-omics approaches, try to approach the interactions occurring within and across datasets.
AK has read half of Deborah Gordon's book on ant interactions, and have also watched various videos, including "Empire of the Desert Ants" (2011) about the honeypot ant in Arizona. The movie was made with the help of Bert Hölldobler of Arizona State University, a collaborator of E.O.Wilson.It seems that there is much that is not known about ants and ant colonies. Even so, I am starting to formulate some ideas about the consciousness of an ant colony.
Consciousness is a process. A process of inference. Variational Free Energy = Bayesian Evidence Maximization = Surprise Minimization = ... Minimal selfhood:Counterfactual breadthTemporal depth Generative models with predictions about consequences of action. Generative models distinguishing Self and Other. Generative models distinguishing Others of different kinds/grades of similarities and differences.
Mechanistic modeling of alarm signaling in seed-harvester ants (2024)first, that ANT was aptly named after all! Two, that the long kidnapping of ants to play a role in the fight between organicist versus market-based models of society could finally come to an end. And third, that alternative ligatures could be invented empirically for composing the anthill and thereby escape the appeal to any superorganism.The movement of large pieces of grass seems too big for Ants. This looks more like a bird, or a small ground mammal. That being said, there may be some European ants with incredible construction capacities. Thank you! The grass and plants were always there. The mound just grows taller, which means that everything is being lifted up. But by what? Andrius. we will have to wait & see! It has been about three or four years that it has been growing taller.
Allow
Ant Questions
Thoughts and questions by AK with responses by DAF in the notes!
Notes
Status
One issue is that there are so many species, with about 14,000 classified and perhaps half as many not yet classified. You and your advisor Deborah Gordon studied red harvester ants. But I suspect that focusing on a single species can give an incomplete and misleading view of what is going on in general.
Species have adapted to different situations but I suspect that in many cases it is simply that certain genes have been turned off. The full set of genes would tell the full story but in many species we see only part of the genes in action, all the more so if we are focusing on only what we can see, the ants outside of the nest, and ignoring what doesn't register with us, namely, the ants' sense of smell. So one question is whether ants across species have basically the same DNA and genes. Are ant species losing and gaining genes? Or are they simply turning off certain genes?
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KU: Ants in Pop Culture has been a focus. Ant Colonies as metaphors and models. .
How useful is anthropomorphism? Are warring factions of ants manifesting Consciousness in the sense of a 3rd mind, per the WW cogsys?
Perhaps humans in equilibrium tend towards Conscious + Unconscious only? Minds 1 & 2? The everyday mundane is about reinforcing current habits, teaching maths with just a calculator and/or with no questioning of authority, staying in well-worn ruts. Why rock the boat?
When there’s no earnest prayer to overcome, only past momentum and a resolute shoulder-to-the-wheel commitment to stay the course, to double down, is 3rd mind present?
Escape from Freedom: When the steering wheel doesn’t steer; When voting makes no difference.
Nest architecture shapes the collective behaviour of harvester ants
1st — Streams of nestmates
2nd — Colony and streams
3rd — Internest
friston_-_of_woodlice_and_men.pdf
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When I had the chance to meet Deborah M. Gordon at Stanford, I realized several things at once:
in my yard, I have this mound, which keeps growing. Is it an ant colony? I have never seen any ants around it. But the dirt seems dug up. Andrius.
@Daniel Ari Friedman
@Daniel Ari Friedman
@Andrius Kulikauskas
@Daniel Ari Friedman
Here is a close up shot which shows that its a pile of fine dirt, not soil, underneath.
Andrius: In other ant news, today 2024.04.17 I noticed this ant colony in my rose garden. It is about 35-40 cm across. In the afternoon, ants were pouring out and I think working on the nest. Maybe they had been wintering underground and then are building this nest because it is spring time. I had never seen it before. There are similar looking ant nests in the forests that can be 150 cm across and 80 cm high. In the evening, when I made this photo, there were fewer ants around. I haven’t mown my lawn for twelve years, since I got my house, so my yard is very natural.
KU: I realize the current Coda Topic is Topics | Biology | Ants, whereas here I’m XREFing on:
insect colonies : discovered @ home : amateur photography : Google Earth
(not Math4Wisdom Coda topics per se, just out there amidst the chatter boxen).
KU: Tunnel Bee Habitat (known as Miner Bees in the local vernacular):
KU: Tunnel Bee tunnel entrance (discovered in my front yard :
KU: Miner Bee (aka Tunnel Bee): (Coda Note: the image crop feature seems buggy — could not use it in this case)
KU: more context (location): 3D View, Google Earth (bees between front sidewalk and C6XTY)
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