I have the flu. I got it from my friend who came on holiday with us. She is very nice but she gave me the flu. There are these excellent ants on the tree outside dad’s front door. And they build this amazing nest, and they use their larvae like tubes of glue! No, really! They wipe the kids arses on stuff they want to stick to other stuff. I think there is something in that for all of us.
I would draw a cartoon of this but I have the flu.
A sort of cough, and a fever and general blergh. It is really weird having a fever on a tropical island. I first spotted a Green Tree Weaver Ant nest high in a tree, at first I thought it was a kite or some wrapping paper that someone had kindly attached to a dangly tree branch way up in the canopy near the pool. I took some excellent photos but I used the good camera and I don’t have the lead with me. So here is a crap photo of a different nest I took with my iphone.
Some ants and their nest.
Bonus points for identifying the plant and the disease it has.
I also took a photo of a cockatoo with it’s head inside a coconut, but that is story for another time.
The Green Tree or Weaver Ant builds a nest by drawing leaves together and fastening them with a fine and silk like sticky substance. This is produce by their larvae which are held in the mandibles of the adult ants like tubes of glue. I kid you not.
These ants use their children like power tools!
It is important to note however, that these ants are not Tramp Ants. Tramp Ants according to an excellent “Stamp out tramp ants” fridge magnet my dad has are things like the:
Electric Ant (Wasmannia auropunctata)
Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)
Yellow crazy Ant (Anoplolepis gracillipes) (I am not making this up)
Argentine Ant (Linepithema humile)
Underp Ant (Inthelandrius Basketus) (I may have made up that last one)
The fridge magnet then advises that people should “Report suspect ants by calling 13 etc etc).
We saw a cuttlefish swimming about at West Point beach the other day, the highlight of my holiday. The only thing that could top that would be reporting a suspect ant.
8 Comments
Hmmm is that a mango tree? I don’t know what the disease is but you can eat those green ants if you like. You hold their abdomen to your tongue and squeeze a little until the liquid comes out. It tastes tangy like lemon juice.
Enjoy watching the green tree ants, but don’t mess with their nest. I used to live in the Northern Territory, and got on the wrong side of these things a couple of times. Completely by accident, I wasn’t poking the nest, I swear. But they STING. Really ouch-y. Someone told me the bright green abdominal part tastes really sweet if you bite it off and eat it, but I thought (a) that is too cruel to try, (b) how do you pick them up without getting stung, and (c) I think someone is yanking my chain.
Hello Mr Onthemoon
Sorry to hear about your flu. Why is it that whenever one goes on holidays, one’s body decides to give one a hard time. After everything we do for it …
Anyway, your ants. Are they the ones you can eat? When I was in the Daintree a few years back, an Aboriginal lady gave me a tour of her ancestral land and all the bush tucker on it. The green ants we came across, which were on a tree, were edible. We ate the last segment of their body, the big one, and it had a sharp, citrussy flavour. (Sucks for the ant, obviously.)
You should try eating one. See if they are the same. (The citrus might be good for you flu, too.)
AArgh!! Don’t touch those ants whatever you do. If you’re all fevered up you’ll feel worse being stung with formic acid. Can your Dad lure them into another Sea Hibiscus (Hibiscus Tiliaceus) so he can spray the one near his front door. I think its riddled with mealybug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus) or that rotten Chinese rose beetle (Adoretus sinicus) that your green ants are gobbling to make their sticky stuff. If your Dad could set a nectar trap in a nearby hibiscus they might crawl across and you can catch some to put in a rice pudding. They’ll make it taste creamy and sour and you won’t have to buy the kids dessert.
Oh don’t lose hope Firstdog – you’ve been such a cheery presence sending us this stuff on your holidays. It’s a year since your last bout (Sick 29/11/07) http://www.firstdogonthemoon.com/CrikeyMore/Sick.html so there’s every reason to believe again in recovery. Think of the owls, insects and fairies hooting with sparkle croaks of delight, the road kill resting on Brendans head and go-girl Gillard in her foxy garb. Just rise from your day bed and send us a snap of Magnetic in the morning. Cheer up and remember, never let a bug get you down.
Firstdog! Very sorry to hear of your illness. Eucalypus is very good for flu, so you might consider chewing on a few local trees (check first they are not occupied by a koala, they get very cranky about intruders and might give you a withering look).
Your excitment about the tea-towel thingy was probably a bit more intense than mine, but I was super-excited to hear the PM talking about them – I had proudly paraded my set to all my friends (they already think I’m crazy, so no loss there) and when they made it onto national TV I forced everyone to admit that I am way more cutting-edge then all of them. Ha!
While you’re convalescing, here’s a very funny site you might enjoy (or not, it’s somewhat avant-garde) mocking Sarah Palin. Maybe I’m way off but it seems to be in line with your sense of humour? http://interviewpalin.com/
Get well soon!
Perhaps they should be called Oecophylla uhus stickus
Hey Firstdog…the best thing for a tropical fever is some strong tropical rum mixed with Bundaberg Ginger Beer and a little lime. If you can’t find limes you could try my bro’s suggestion of squeezing the arse-juice of green ants over the ice before you pour. We call this drink Viv Richards in honour of the great man. We’d like to think he’d enjoy it. Although I live on the mainland in Townsville, my house is currently being overrun by very tramp like green ants. They have sprayed their silky goo all over my cheese grater and are refusing to budge….
If you are still feeling poorly on Saturday evening you should take a few Vivs and wander down to Arkies for some tropical countrified blues tunes from my band Lonesome Trio…just the tonic for a wicked tropical fever.