I fix 1950 or '60 at the latest for the discovery of Europe.

August 10, 2016 10:26 AM

Once upon a time there was a tiny brown ant who lived by a swamp at the end of the Paraná River in Argentina. Her name, Linepithema humile, literally means “humble” or “weak”. Some time during the late 1800s, an adventurous L. humile crept away from the swamp where giant river otter played and capybaras cavorted. She stowed away on a boat that sailed to New Orleans. And she went to war.
posted by Chrysostom (17 comments total)

Say what you will about cultural hegemony, we have all enjoyed unprecedented freedom and prosperity under the Pax Humile.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:53 AM on August 10, 2016 [8 favorites]

Thants.
posted by maryr at 11:26 AM on August 10, 2016 [10 favorites]

At first I thought this was going to be about fire ant colonies. Which would have been somehow much more dramatic. Do the ant colonies talked about in the FPP article have much to do with human existence at all outside of just being ants?

Because fuck fire ants.
posted by hippybear at 11:26 AM on August 10, 2016 [5 favorites]

Do the ant colonies talked about in the FPP article have much to do with human existence at all outside of just being ants?

Yes, but mostly indirectly, apart from invading homes and being annoying. Apparently they displace native ant species, causing ecological disruptions further up the food chain. They also tend aphids, mealybugs, and scale insects, causing increased damage to plants in areas where they become common.
posted by jedicus at 11:40 AM on August 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

It's always about you, isn't it?
posted by rtimmel at 12:19 PM on August 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

(For anyone who, like me, was mystified by the post title it's a reference to an H.G. Wells story about human hubris and ants taking over the world.)
posted by Wretch729 at 12:20 PM on August 10, 2016 [5 favorites]

Leiningen Versus the Ants
posted by jeribus at 12:31 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

So what is the word that describes that feeling that's a mix of horror, fascination and itchy? There must be a word in German at least. Thanks for the article though as these ants have become my Collective-Arch-Nemesis.

Also, I stand with you hippybear - fuck fire ants. Oh the memory of standing on the grass median strip in Florida trying to cross over the next two lanes of road towards my crappy job at the Village Inn. SURPRISE! YOU ARE NOW COVERED IN BITING ANTS IN TRAFFIC!
posted by pipoquinha at 12:37 PM on August 10, 2016

Fire ants are the glitter are the herpes of the insect kingdom.
posted by hippybear at 12:39 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

They've got high apple pie in the sky hopes.
posted by sonascope at 12:48 PM on August 10, 2016 [5 favorites]

Went looking for a picnic and found the ultimate picnic, the US.
posted by AugustWest at 12:54 PM on August 10, 2016

So what is the word that describes that feeling that's a mix of horror, fascination and itchy?

myrmecology
posted by poffin boffin at 12:59 PM on August 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Formication?
posted by Chrysostom at 1:45 PM on August 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Antsy?
posted by lucidium at 1:45 PM on August 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

OK so don't google myrmecology if close up photos of ants freak you out. Oh, look, it's a giant thorax! That all said, preliminary research into the origin of the word reveals some fun info. From the always excellent kidsneedscience.tumblr:


The word myrmecology has a fascinating derivation: the Ancient Greek word μύρμηξ (myrmex) meant ant and was combined with οἶκος (oikos) meaning house and -λογία (logia or -logy) meaning the study of. There are two Greek legends-first, when Athena invented the plowshare a young Attic maiden named Μύρμηξ (Myrmex) falsely claimed that she had invented it and was promptly turned into an ant. The second legend says that when Zeus made his son Aeacus king of Thessaly, which at that time was completely barren and uninhabited, Zeus turned all of the ants in the region into men to serve him, who became the Myrmidones, who later fought with Achilles at Troy. When Achilles rallies his Myrmidones, they move in to battle packed together like ants:
[Book 16, line 210] So saying, he aroused the strength and spirit of every man, and yet closer were their ranks serried when they heard their king. And as when a man buildeth the wall of a high house with close-set stones, to avoid the might of the winds, even so close were arrayed their helms and bossed shields; buckler pressed on buckler, helm upon helm, and man on man. The horse-hair crests on the bright helmet-ridges touched each other, as the men moved their heads, in such close array stood they one by another. And in the front of all two warriors arrayed themselves for war, even Patroclus and Automedon, both of one mind, to war in the forefront of the Myrmidons.

So there you have it. Now on to spend the rest of my work day researching Formication.

Also, Antsy for the win.
posted by pipoquinha at 2:43 PM on August 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

Now on to spend the rest of my work day researching Formication.

That doesn't sound appropriate for work!
posted by atoxyl at 3:30 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

Previously. And a Radiolab about this.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:14 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]