Ant Labour

A social structure that designates its older females as warriors instead of its younger males certainly bears closer scrutiny.  Ants are among the hardest workers in the animal kingdom.  They’re organized with a highly functional and specialized workforce.  Their perseverance alone would put most human workers to shame.

Have you ever noticed how quickly every ant in a colony will diligently get to work when disaster strikes and their mound is disturbed?  They don’t fall into depression or accept defeat.  They keep on building and working towards their goals.

Another quality that makes them so efficient is that they are such excellent communicators.  Much of this is done through the use of pheromones, chemical signals picked up by the ants’ antennae.  But they don’t just let one another know about danger.  They also share information about what work needs to be done and where food can be found.  If one ant finds out that your kitchen is a great spot for dining on sweets, then she’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends and before you know it you’re overrun with ants.  And all without the benefit of Twitter.

All worker ants are female which may explain their superior communication skills.  Males can be distinguished by their two sets of wings.  Queens, while being larger, also have wings which are discarded after mating.

Ants are preyed upon mostly by amphibians, birds and spiders.  Bats usually catch the male ants in flight.  In my yard, flickers have to be the ants’ worse enemy.  These are woodpecker-like birds that have a special long tongue similar to the one anteaters have.  They’re able to dig holes in the ground and catch numerous ants, pupae (the cocoon from which adults emerge) and eggs with this raspy tongue.  The holes are everywhere in my lawn.

Ants survive Nova Scotia winters by going deeper underground or into dead trees where they receive some protection from the cold.  Worldwide, they’re found on every continent except Antarctica.

No one preaches better than the ant and she says nothing.

~ Benjamin Franklin

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Marsh Art

Though mist usually softens details in the landscape, sometimes it reveals that which is often hidden in plain sight.  We might imagine a few spiders living in a wild area, but the actual number boggles the mind when one sees so much evidence of their creativity.  The art work of countless spiders covers this bridge along the Salt Marsh Trail.  Swarms of mosquitoes are often present around the bridges, so the plentiful food supply probably warrants the building of so many webs.

Webs are also found on grasses, trees and other plants.  The tiny droplets of mist outline their delicate framework.

Webs made of an even finer filament cover the rocks that line the trail.  Each cluster has a tiny hole where the spider can crawl beneath the rocks for shelter in the heat.

How can these spiders survive the tidal surges and flooding that are part of the marsh environment?  It so happens that marsh spiders can survive in the water for up to 36 hours, which is about 12 hours longer than your average woodland spider.  They can also shut down any bodily functions that require air for several hours, which means that even after ‘drowning,’ they are able to come back to life.

The spider shown at left was one of many I saw near the salt marsh behind Silver Sands Beach.  It’s probably similar to those found along the Salt Marsh Trail.

The spiders found in Nova Scotia should be appreciated rather than feared.  These artistic creatures provide a valuable service by consuming so many of the mosquitoes that actually pose a greater threat to our health.

For more on spiders,  see Weaving Wisdom into Nature.

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When the Crickets Hesitate

Summer is heating up and bird and cricket songs drift through the air.  According to the Library of Congress Science Reference Department, there is a way to ascertain the temperature by listening carefully to the sound that crickets make.  

Male crickets make the sound by rubbing their wings together, usually with the purpose of impressing females.  The rate depends on the cricket’s absolute temperature.

• For Fahrenheit:  count the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds and then add 37.
• For Celsius:  count the number of chirps in 8 seconds and add 5.

Summer Haiku

Silence, a a deeper silence

When the crickets hesitate.

~ Leonard Cohen

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Seafood Buffet

Dismembered crab carcasses litter the trail that runs through the salt marsh.  Seagulls fly onto the trail to crack open and eat crabs found in the marsh.  Although Rock Crabs are most common, Green Crabs are also on the seagulls’ menu.   Sometimes cracked Northern Moon Snail shells can be found as well, remnants of a tasty breakfast.

Although Rock Crabs can run sideways at great speed, and are masterful at wedging themselves between the rocks along the shore, they are still easily caught by the seagulls.  These crabs are most active at night. 

Crabs are Decapods, having five pairs of legs.  Their abdomens are small and curled under their bodies.  They share the lobsters’ marvelous ability to regenerate legs, claws, eyes or antennae.  They are predators and scavengers, eating dead creatures found on the bottom of the marsh and sea.  Common prey are starfish, sea urchins and other crabs.  Crab shells fade in the sunlight, becoming a light orange color over time.

Neither Green nor Rock Crabs are consumed by people in Nova Scotia.  Snow Crabs, more common in Cape Breton, are the type usually eaten here. 

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Weaving Wisdom into Nature

Spiders seem to be everywhere I look these days:  on the beach, along the trail, in the yard and in the house.  Clusters of baby spiders hang from the vines near the front door where they’ll make their home.  In the evenings, they’ll have plenty to eat as insects are attracted towards the front light. 

A fear of spiders, arachnophobia,  is common among humans.  Among phobias, it shares top billing with fears of death and public speaking.  I’ve never understood this fear, as spiders do us such a tremendous service by consuming a large number of insects.  

An ancient myth tells the story of how a maiden with an amazing talent for weaving caught the eye of Athena, goddess of wisdom and skills.  The girl, Arachne, refused to acknowledge her teachers and proudly stated that she was better than everyone, including Athena.  She boldly accepted a challenge to out-weave the goddess.  Though her work was excellent, she used her skill to mock the gods and her defiance cost her dearly.  Her master work was torn to shreds by the angered goddess and she was driven to hang herself in despair.  Taking pity, Athena changed her into a spider so that she and all generations after her could continue their weaving work.

What if, instead of fearing spiders, we saw them as reminders of Athena’s lessons:

• don’t define yourself by your work, and 
• the greater your talent and skill, the more important it is to practice humility.

The story of Arachne can be found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI

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