Ants vs. Beetles

via Google Trends. Blue is ants, red is beetles:

graph1.jpg

Ants win, even in the face of the beetles' 20-fold species advantage.

That seasonal pattern is striking, no?

More like this

From an interview with E. O. Wilson: [Q:]Are ants better at anything than humans? [Wilson:] Human beings have not yet made an accommodation with the rest of lifeâwhereas ants, whose history dates back more than 100 million years, have achieved that balance, mostly by specializing among the 14,000…
Ants are among the most successful of living things. Their nests are well-defended fortresses, coordinated through complex communication systems involving touch and chemical signals. These strongholds are stocked with food and secure from the outside world, so they make a tempting prospect for any…
A normal giant gliding ant (left) and an infested ant (right). The red color of the gaster is not caused by a pigment, but thinning of the exoskeleton combined with the color of the nematode eggs. From Yanoviak et al, 2008. In one of my favorite episodes of the animated TV show Futurama, the…
One night of passion and you're filled with a lifetime full of sperm with no need to ever mate again. As sex lives go, it doesn't sound very appealing, but it's what many ants, bees, wasps and termites experience. The queens of these social insects mate in a single "nuptial flight" that lasts for…

Ants also win against termites and quite even with mosquito. However, ants lost big time from butterfly and spider. Interestingly, Australia is always the no. 1 country in the lists.

Yeah, I noticed that about Australia. They must spend all their time googling bugs in that country.

JP- I did match up "Obama" and "Ants", just to see. I'd not put any money on Ants this November, if you know what I mean.