Incredible Difference in Ant Sizes

[Hornbein]

Here in Bali the ants in my kitchen are one millimeter long. I figure this means they weigh one hundred micrograms.

There are other ants here that are eight millimeters long, a fairly normal size. They are 500 times the weight of the minuscule ants.

I read that the biggest African ants are four centimeters. 60,000 times the mass of the minuscule ones. Six grams.

 

[Baluncore]

I don't think it is the size of the ant that matters.

Here in Tasmania, we have those nervous little jack jumper ants. Their venom causes the purest pain I have ever felt, not like a pin prick, but pain that spreads to fill the volume of your body, it is almost an anaesthetic, as no other pain can compete. The venom is immunogenic, so don't make a habit of getting bitten. Anaphylaxis following a jack jumper bite typically kills one person every 5 years in Australia. You may have less than 20 minutes, so keep that EpiPen handy.

The jack jumper ant holds an interesting record. The male has only one chromosome, but it really puts that one chromosome to efficient use, synthesising that incredible venom.

Luckily, we also have redback spiders that prey on jack jumper broods. After a redback bite, the redback venom becomes progressively more painful over 24 hours. It moves through and concentrates in your lymph nodes, so you should accept the antivenom as soon as it is offered. The redback venom will not kill you, but without the antivenom, you will wish that it had.

Any jack jumpers that come down from the hill, get taken out by the redbacks in my rock garden. Any redbacks that come into the house get taken out by those huge furry huntsman spiders, friends that I encourage to protect me in my home and in my car.

This message has been brought to you on behalf of the Tasmanian tourist bureau.

 

[Hornbein]

The Bali ants never bite me, even while being evicted from a nest in a shoe.

 

[BillTre]

Their sting might be worse than their bite.

 

[PeroK]

"How did he die doc?"

"Any one of five ways. His skull was fractured, his chest was crushed, his neck and back were broken, and he had enough formic acid in him to kill twenty men!"

 

[sbrothy]

I don't think it is the size of the ant that matters.

Here in Tasmania, we have those nervous little jack jumper ants. Their venom causes the purest pain I have ever felt, not like a pin prick, but pain that spreads to fill the volume of your body, it is almost an anaesthetic, as no other pain can compete. The venom is immunogenic, so don't make a habit of getting bitten. Anaphylaxis following a jack jumper bite typically kills one person every 5 years in Australia. You may have less than 20 minutes, so keep that EpiPen handy.

The jack jumper ant holds an interesting record. The male has only one chromosome, but it really puts that one chromosome to efficient use, synthesising that incredible venom.

Luckily, we also have redback spiders that prey on jack jumper broods. After a redback bite, the redback venom becomes progressively more painful over 24 hours. It moves through and concentrates in your lymph nodes, so you should accept the antivenom as soon as it is offered. The redback venom will not kill you, but without the antivenom, you will wish that it had.

Any jack jumpers that come down from the hill, get taken out by the redbacks in my rock garden. Any redbacks that come into the house get taken out by those huge furry huntsman spiders, friends that I encourage to protect me in my home and in my car.

This message has been brought to you on behalf of the Tasmanian tourist bureau.

I'm sure you took it from pp 344 from volume 18 of "Venomously Non-Deadly But Excruciatingly Painful Critters of Tasmania".

 

[sbrothy]

Irukandji Syndrome

[...]

The syndrome is classically associated with a sense of “impending doom.” In general, most cases will improve within 6 to 24 hours, but can sometimes recur. In severe cases, cardiac failure with pulmonary edema can occur by the proposed mechanisms outlined previously and can lead to respiratory failure. Two reported deaths by intracranial hemorrhage, secondary to severe hypertension, have also been observed.

[...]

I've always loved the "father of the year" story associated with it's "discovery"

How Cairns doctor Jack Barnes discovered Irukandji jellyfish by stinging himself and his 10-year-old son


Doctors had been puzzled for decades about a debilitating illness afflicting North Queensland beachgoers in summer.

Called Irukandji syndrome after a local Aboriginal tribe, victims never saw what stung them in the water but were left writhing around for hours in agonising pain. After a protracted hunt, Dr Barnes finally had the likely suspect in hand and wanted to seek definitive proof this was the creature responsible. He resolved to sting himself and a volunteer from the sizeable crowd,

But no-one was keen.

Except for a 10-year-old boy — his son, Nick.

 

[sbrothy]

How Cairns doctor Jack Barnes discovered Irukandji jellyfish by stinging himself and his 10-year-old son:

"I was not allowed to skip school the next day," Nick Barnes said.

He did not receive any praise or thanks from his taciturn father — but neither was he left traumatised by the ordeal.

Tough boy, or father, I'm not sure.

 

[Baluncore]

I'm sure you took it from pp 344 from volume 18 of "Venomously Non-Deadly But Excruciatingly Painful Critters of Tasmania".

That is still unpublished, but in production, where did you find a copy ?