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The Exploding Ants of Borneo

The Exploding Ants of Borneo

Believe it or not, the title of this article is not clickbait.

This ant is Colobopsis saundersi:

colobopsis_saundersi
Colobopsis saundersi, image from AntWeb

This ant is from Borneo, and other places:

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Species range of C. saundersi, screenshot from AntMaps

This ant explodes:

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C. saundersi exploding, killing a Camponotus attacker. Photo: Mark Moffett/Minden Pictures

The exploding ants of Borneo (which include C. saundersi and a few other species) contain an impressive quantity of toxic chemicals inside mandibular gland reservoirs that have remarkably expanded to fill a large portion of the body. These ants are able to rupture their bodies, covering an attacker in the chemicals, killing both the attacker and itself.

Pretty cool.

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9 responses to “The Exploding Ants of Borneo”

  1. afaithmartin Avatar
    afaithmartin

    Benjamin- you have me more curious about ants than i ever felt was necessary !!!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar
      Benjamin Blanchard

      Glad I could help! 😀

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      Reply
  2. Derek Langston Avatar
    Derek Langston

    Any videos of these bad boys in action?

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    1. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar
      Benjamin Blanchard

      Not that I can find, sadly. Also, you may mean bad girls*

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      Reply
      1. Derek Langston Avatar
        Derek Langston

        Such nasty girls.

        Like

  3. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    Lovin’ this blog!

    Just un-lurking for the sake of one minor quibble about a caption:

    “C. saundersi exploding, and killing, a Camponotus attacker.”

    The commas make “exploding” read like a transitive verb – like it’s making the Camponotus explode thereby killing it.

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    1. James C. Trager Avatar
      James C. Trager

      Not sure I agree, Matt. Seems like the first comma assigns the verbal “exploding” to the noun C. saundersi.
      This could provide an argument for disuse of the serial (Oxford) comma.

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    2. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar
      Benjamin Blanchard

      Interesting… I think I agree that “C. saundersi exploding, and killing, a Camponotus attacker” would in fact be better without the second comma! Unexpected grammar discussion, haha – but I like it! And I’m glad you like the blog, Matt!

      Like

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  4. The Daily Ant One-Year Antiversary: In Review – The Daily Ant Avatar
    The Daily Ant One-Year Antiversary: In Review – The Daily Ant

    […] included reports on ant spit,  turtle ants, ant tools, trap-jaw ants (twice!), blue ants, exploding ants, invasive ants, big-headed ants, other trap-jaw ants, ant queen heads, bullet ants, ant-controlling […]

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