The Wild Life Blog

Ants belong to the family of Formicide. They are called formicides because they have formic in their sting.  Ants have evolved from wasp like structures 120 million years ago and was diversified with the involvement of flowering plants. There are believed to be 12000 species of ants and they form nearly 20% of the earth. They can be easily identified with a slender waist, two stings and moving very fast.

Ants form colonies which range from ten to million of them working for the development of the colony. They form into several groups like workers, soldiers or other specialised group. There are some fertile male ants called “Drones” and some fertile females called “Queens”. All of them work as whole entity to support the whole colony.

Ants are known for their industrious nature. They have division of labour. They form as a source of inspiration to human beings. They occupy 20% of the earth surface except on Antarctica. They do not thrive in the region where there is no food and water. Some species of ants benefit human beings and some of them brings a conflict with the humans as they invade buildings, damage crops and establish a new home leaving the humans homeless.

Ants range from .75 to 52 mm and there is no scale till now that has measured the weight of the ants. There are nearly 12000 species of ants that vary in color only. There are red,black,brown and green ants. Ants have an elbowed antenna, metapleural glands and a large abdominal. Like all the other insects ants have a exoskeleton that covers the entire body. They do not have lungs, oxygen and carbon dioxide enter and leave the ants body through the spirals that they have. They also do not have a heart. A typical nerve run through out the body controls the blood and other fluids flowing.

Ants have a extro-ordinary head that is made up of different sensory parts. They have compound eyes that are made up of millions of lenses that are attached together. Their eyes do not give them a good resolution but can give them an idea of light variations. They have elbowed antennas that help them to detect changes in the environment, vibrations and many more. The head has two strong mandibles that carry food to their homes. It has a hooked claw that helps them to climb up the tress with out falling down.

Ants have castes as we people have. There are four divisions of ants the minor, median, major and the kings. They are distinguished by the size of their head. Larger the head, they are appointed as soldiers as they can guard the team well. Soldiers and worker are not allowed to mate. They are not supposed to lay eggs. As time goes by and with a lot of promotions a soldier or work ant get the qualification for mating with the female ants.

The birth of the ant is quite interesting. The eggs are laid by the females in thousand number. If the eggs hatch then it produces a female ant else a male ant. The larvae has to be maintained at proper temperature for proper hatching so they are moved along the brood of the colony.  The new worker is made to care for the queen and the young ones, then it graduates to nest building and maintaining, then moving to foraging for food replacing the older ones that die sooner.

Ants generally follow a line and inspire us for their discipline. They communicate with each other using the pheromones. Like the other insects they have two elbowed antenna that pick up the information regarding the direction and the intensity of the scents. If an finds a food it uses its pheromones to trail the other ants so that they will follow them and once the food is brought to the home the pheromones are swiped by the ant so that the other colonies do not evade them for food. If the forager has lost the track of the pheromones the ant locates a nearest route to trail the other ant.

They are good defenders they have a strong stings that help them to defend from the predators.  It also builds its nest in such way that it  defends it from the natural calamities also. Some of the ants are nomadic some of them build nests like the weaver ant that collects the leaves from the branches of the trees and connects them using the pheromones from its body.

Ants have a dual relationship with humans . They protect them from the other pathogens destroying their crops. They become the most nuisance if they invade humans home. But the larvae of the ants are eaten in some parts of the Mexico.

The electric eel is a species of fish that can generate powerful electric shocks for hunting and self defence. It is rather not an eel it is a knife fish. An electric eel has an elongated body with its head extending its snout. . It has a square body and has no scales. It has a greenish yellow at the bottom of the mouth. The anal fin extend to the end of 2 Mt’s long body. It weighs around 20Kg.

Eel have a vascularized organs at the oral cavity. They are different from the normal fishes. They come to the surface of the water for every ten minutes to breath. They take in 80% of the oxygen that they get it from the water. It does not belong to the species of Eel, it is a kind of cat fish.

The Eel is distinctive animal in the matter of producing electricity which no other animal on earth can do. It has got three main organ being  the main organ, the hunter’s organ and the sach’s organ through out its body that produce voltage. These organ make up to 4/5 of the body and the remaining vital organs. They have series of electrolytes laid in series though out the body, When ever an Eel see prey, it’s brain send an electric signal that cause sodium to floe through the electrolytes thus creating  a potential difference.

Based up on the circumstances it can produce voltages of low and high voltages. On a serious case an Eel can produce up to 500v of electricity which is fatal to human beings. The Sach organ can produce about 0.15v and working together can produce about 10V and 25Hz. This signals are used for communication which helps them to choose a better mate. They are capable of varying their voltage production based on the situation. They produce low voltage to kill prey and high voltage to stun predators.

Electric Eels are found in the fresh water of central and south america. They prefer to live in the swamps and marsh areas. They tend to live in the muddy area of calm waters. They feed on invertebrates and adults feed on other eels and small mammals.

The Shark is the king of the ocean. It is also called as White Death or  White Pointer. It is an exceptionally larger one found along the coastal regions. It grows up to a length of 2Mt’s and weighs upto 2,250 Kg. It’s generic name is carcharodon. The dental features and the body size made the scientists believe that they were related to the prehistoric times and thus named them after that.

Great White Sharks live in the water near the coastal areas where the temperature of the water is between 12- 24C. Most of the sharks are concentrated along the coast of Australia, Africa and parts of Mexico. These sharks are found to e in a place where there are lot of Fish, Fur seals etc. They live 4200 feet below the sea level and most often come to the shores. The sharks migrate from California to Hawaii. Why they migrate for such a distance is a million dollar question ? Researchers think that it might be due to mating or for food. They travel 20,000 Kms in 9 months.

Great whites sharks have a robust snout (The upper jaw extending far more than the nose). It has an unusual body design it has got white color at the bottom of the surface and shades of grey on the top. When seen from the top the dark shade blends with the sea and from the below the silhouette of the sunlight makes it difficult to spot.

Great white have rows of teeth behind the main ones, when any of them break the teeth from the back row quickly replaces it. When caught hold of a prey the Great White teeth becomes serrated. They nod their head so that they can tear large chunk of meat and swallow them.

The male shark grows up to 4-5Mt’s and weighs between 600-1100Kg, Females generally grow larger than males. Great White sharks have an Ampullae of Lorenzini. These help them to detect the small electromagnetic radiation that are released by the animals that move. The sharks can detect about half a billionth of a volt.

To be successful in hunting of the seals the whales are adopted with a net type arteries and veins that help them to keep them warmer and conserve heat. The most important aspect of the shark is that it can maintain different temperatures for different parts of the body. This net like structure helps them to maintain a brain temperature of 14c while the other body maintained at sea temperature.

Sharks are highly hygienic and diet conscious. They eat food that is rich in fat. They hunt for Fish, Sea Lions and Dolphins. Sharks generally hunt after two hours of sunrise and the sucess rate is 55% and goes down to 40% with the time.  While hunting for seals they are ambush they hit the seals at the mid of the body so that they do not escape.

The great White Shark have a gestation period of 11 months. The Sharks are oviparous. They bear the eggs in their uterus and during the birth the females should take care that they do not eat their young ones. Great whites mature at the age of 15 years and live to 100 years.

Great white sharks have a bad relations hip with humans. They are killed for their fat that is used as a medicine called COD liver oil. Each sharks can yield 10Gms of COD liver oil only. Their fat is also used as silver paper that is garnished on sweets. They are hunted for its meat. Humans should take certain measure to preserve them.