A new species-Exploding ants...

[The Seeker]

A new species of carpenter ant has been discovered :Colobopsis cylindrica, the exploding ant...

http://calgaryherald.com/news/world/meet-the-kamikaze-exploding-ant-that-splits-itself-open-and-sprays-enemies-with-yellow-goo-for-its-colony/wcm/240f48ec-8fb0-4a86-934c-f2814d6a469b

Meet the kamikaze 'exploding ant,' that splits itself open and sprays enemies with yellow goo for its colony

In the ant hierarchy, it is a minor worker. Only a colony's minor workers explode when under attack. They are a colony's expendables

Washington Post Washington Post
Published on: April 20, 2018 | Last Updated: April 23, 2018 11:16 AM MDT

It's not easy being a bug, especially one as small as an ant. The list of potential predators is lengthy for the diminutive creatures, so it's no wonder they've developed an arsenal of defense mechanisms ranging from painful bites or stings to overpowering enemies by sheer numbers.

But one newly-discovered ant species goes above and beyond when it senses danger. It explodes – killing itself – and coats adversaries in a toxic yellow goo, the ultimate act of self-sacrifice to protect its colony.

These valiant ants are the newest addition to the species group Colobopsis cylindrica, more colloquially known as "the exploding ants," according to a detailed survey of the insects published Thursday in ZooKeys, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal. Found in the jungles of Southeast Asia, the tree-dwelling ants were called "Yellow Goo" before researchers aptly named them Colobopsis explodens, Alice Laciny, the article's lead author, told The Washington Post. They are the first new species of exploding ant to be discovered since 1935, Laciny said.

The small reddish-brown ants look like any other ant. Their bodies are full of glandular sacs containing a deadly fluid, said Laciny, a PhD student at the University of Vienna. In the ant hierarchy, it is a minor worker. Only a colony's minor workers explode when under attack. They are a colony's expendables.

Meet the kamikaze 'exploding ant,' that splits itself open and sprays enemies with yellow goo for its colony

In the ant hierarchy, it is a minor worker. Only a colony's minor workers explode when under attack. They are a colony's expendables
Washington Post Washington Post
Published on: April 20, 2018 | Last Updated: April 23, 2018 11:16 AM MDT

These ants explode - killing themselves - and coat adversaries in a toxic yellow goo, the ultimate act of self-sacrifice to protect its colony.

It's not easy being a bug, especially one as small as an ant. The list of potential predators is lengthy for the diminutive creatures, so it's no wonder they've developed an arsenal of defense mechanisms ranging from painful bites or stings to overpowering enemies by sheer numbers.

But one newly-discovered ant species goes above and beyond when it senses danger. It explodes – killing itself – and coats adversaries in a toxic yellow goo, the ultimate act of self-sacrifice to protect its colony.

These valiant ants are the newest addition to the species group Colobopsis cylindrica, more colloquially known as "the exploding ants," according to a detailed survey of the insects published Thursday in ZooKeys, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal. Found in the jungles of Southeast Asia, the tree-dwelling ants were called "Yellow Goo" before researchers aptly named them Colobopsis explodens, Alice Laciny, the article's lead author, told The Washington Post. They are the first new species of exploding ant to be discovered since 1935, Laciny said.

The small reddish-brown ants look like any other ant. Their bodies are full of glandular sacs containing a deadly fluid, said Laciny, a PhD student at the University of Vienna. In the ant hierarchy, it is a minor worker. Only a colony's minor workers explode when under attack. They are a colony's expendables.

But there's nothing cinematic about the ants' final act of heroism.

"The explosion is not as dramatic as people think it is," she said.

Rather, the ants will bite down on the enemy, angle their backsides close and contract their muscles so hard their skin splits open, releasing the goo, Laciny said. The sticky substance, which oddly has a "spice-like, currylike" scent, then either kills the intruder, or hinders its attack, she said.

If enemies survive the first line of defense, they will come face-to-face with the colony's major workers and their enlarged, plug-shaped heads, researchers wrote. Known as "doorkeepers," these ants barricade the nest's entrance, providing a second line of defense.

Although exploding ants were first observed by scientists more than 100 years ago, not much was known about the insects, including how many different kinds existed, until now.

In 2014, Laciny and a group of researchers – comprised of entomologists, botanists, microbiologists and chemists from Austria, Thailand and Brunei – set out to document the exploding ants, according to a summary by the journal's publisher. The scientists determined there are at least 15 different kinds of these self-sacrificing insects, including this one.

Despite all the research that has been done, Laciny said there is still much more to be learned about the brave exploding ants, and Colobopsis explodens is expected to be at the center of it all.

The newly identified ant species was selected as the group's model species, after the scientists deemed it to be "particularly prone to self-sacrifice when threatened by enemy arthropods, as well as intruding researchers," the summary said. In that role, the ant will serve as a reference point for future research about exploding ants, Laciny said.

Now we have exploding ants; so what comes next?

seeker

[Shasta56]

Maybe a remake of "Them?"  Exploding ants would be an interesting plot twist.

[The Seeker]

What piques my curiosity is how mother nature suddenly decided to allow a species of carpenter ants to develop the ability to be suicide bombers as a defensive measure to protect their nests; this is unprecedented, for these ants can literally make their butt explode, spraying a sticky yellow goo on their adversary that literally glues the two ants together, effectively trapping and disabling the invader...

[zorgon]

So  a new species just pops up in this timeline? 



Colobopsis explodens  Sounds like Wile E Coyote latin 

[ArMaP]

So  a new species just pops up in this timeline? 

New species are always being found, last year they even found a new species of orangoutan.

[The Seeker]

New species are always being found, last year they even found a new species of orangoutan.

Yes, new species are coming to light on a regular basis; but this ant species is a radical departure from the norm, ArMaP, unless you know of other examples of animals/insects that have the ability to explode at will along with a butt full of super gloe...

[ArMaP]

Yes, new species are coming to light on a regular basis; but this ant species is a radical departure from the norm, ArMaP, unless you know of other examples of animals/insects that have the ability to explode at will along with a butt full of super gloe...

This is a new species of a type of ant that has been known for more than 100 years, as the article says, so the method used is not a new find.

Besides that, several species of sea squirts expel their intestines and stomach, so that kind of behaviour is not unique to ants. In the case of the sea squirts they regenerate their intestines and stomach and go back to normal after a few days.