by Mindy Block
 | This isn't exclusively a story about Marvel's Ant Man, nor of E.O. Wilson's studies of ants and the web of life. It's also a story about someone I knew way back, when I planted wild lupines in Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest, and he "planted" ant colonies. I think he was a dentist. |
From recollection his backyard was filled with ant colonies instead of pollinator plants. He bred many varieties, one of which was the Allegheny Mound Ant (Formica exsectoides). I recently tried to look him up, but can't even remember his name. Do you? I know his work finally received recognition from Cornell University, and this made it possible for him to acquire grad students to continue his research. And there was a publication.
And it's a story about John Turner, a local naturalist and birder, who poked a pencil eraser in an ant mound, as part of his nature led walk. These ant mounds were at Brookhaven State Park. All the ants scurried out to attack the already withdrawing pencil.
And it's a story about me. For a year or so after that incident, all I wanted to do was research their distribution (how they spread from one active nest to another), and how they modified a forested landscape. Would wild native grasses seed into their abandoned ant mounds?
And it's a story about Andy. See his note (below) from a recent park review.
Park Notes from Eastport - Pine Barrens Forest
"Finally! I encountered giant ant hills, a phenomenon that I had only heard about on Long Island, despite being given the impression that they were quite frequent. After visiting 100+ parks/natural landscapes in my lifetime on Long Island, the two mounds I found here were the first. These ant hills or mounds are actually nests made from carefully excavated soils stuck together with organic debris. While providing rudimentary protection from the elements and predators, a truly fascinating feature of these mounds is that they maintain a stable temperature and humidity inside regardless of outside conditions. This is particularly useful when raising sensitive larvae to maturity. Unfortunately, there are no good easily accessible online resources discussing ants on long island or who these “mound-builders” may be. All information is geared towards home extermination and the species of these natural architects continues to elude me. -- Andy
Entomologists who specialize in ants are called myrmecologists. The rest of us can aspire to also save an ant, "because that's what heroes do."
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