Sophisticated Underground ANT City-Labyrinth of highways 'Rivals the Great Wall of China'-(amazin

Time to take a break from all the craziness going on in the world. Our world that is. What you are about to see is another world. They really don't mean anything to us...per se... Just like we don't really mean anything to them. Truly fascinating study and methods used. Enjoy. Hoping some ATSer has some professoinal info etc.

The Bug Society:

A sophisticated underground ant city once populated by millions of insects has been discovered by a team of scientists. The abandoned megalopolis, which features vast subterranean highways, paths and gardens, was found buried beneath the earth in Brazil. It is thought to have housed one of the biggest ant colonies in the world. But no one is sure when the leafcutter species left and what caused their demise.

Underground city: The network of tunnels and dens built by millions of Leaf Cutter ants in Brazil

Experts poured ten tonnes of concrete into holes on the surface – which served as air conditioning ducts for the ants – to expose the tunnels by solidifying in the space. It took ten days to pour the material down the labyrinth of channels, which covered an area of 500sq ft and extended to 26ft below the surface. After a month, scientists, led by professor Luis Forgi, began digging and revealed the incredible city described as the ‘ant equivalent of the Great Wall of China’.

Each insect would have repeatedly carried loads of earth, weighing more times more than the worker, a distance of what would be just over half a mile in human terms. In total, they excavated around 40 tonnes of soil to create the labyrinth The network was designed to allow good ventilation and provide the shortest transport routes. It features scores of highways connecting the main chambers and off the main routes, are side roads. From there, paths branch out and lead to the many rubbish pits and fungus gardens, which are grown from the vegetation collected by the workers.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk...

reply to post by anon72


This is truly stunning

This is old. But I'm glad to see someone put a thread up about it. It's amazing to think that a such a tiny creature (scientists still haven't found its brain) can make something rivaling one of the greatest architectural achievements in the world.

s&f

My goodness for some reason this article freaks me out!

I love things that freak me out so S&F.

Thats just crazy, remember those ants in the new Indiana Jones Movie?
That freaked me out also.

Yeah Uh-Uh. Ants are really good at working together clearly.. Thats just crazy.

I can't help but wonder if aliens would look at us like Ants... just little gross things that could hurt you maybe, if they worked together..



Its amazing; separate one little ant... its nothing but a little ant... Put a bunch of ants together and it becomes
'A Super Organism."

Yea, I remember seeing this a couple of years ago. The Guardian had this article around the time.

www.guardian.co.uk...

Heres another

blogs.discovery.com...

Ants are the true rulers of the earth.

reply to post by anon72


I love this story...

Here's another thread by ats member sugarcookie1...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Does anyone else find it a bit harsh that people for no real reason other than curiousity came along and just basically destroyed probably billions of these ants and the home they worked so hard on?

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff


I agree with your sentiment at face value, but the article states the colony had been abandoned. I would also assume there are lots of these underground, some even bigger!

But i doubt they destroyed a living colony. Leaf cutter ants are a very tenacious critter. You probly wouldnt want to be standing anywhere near this colony if it were alive.

I remember watching on discovery a few nights ago about a two man crew that did a 2 year walk from the west to east coast of SA. They noted one night they had unfortunately set up camp right on top of a leafcutter ant path. Apparently the critters did a number on their equipment and them.

Originally posted by IkNOwSTuff
Does anyone else find it a bit harsh that people for no real reason other than curiousity came along and just basically destroyed probably billions of these ants and the home they worked so hard on?

I think they said the colony had been abandoned, no ants were still living there and they wouldn't have disturbed all those ants to see how they live, it would be unethical and against the commonly held scientific principles of not meddling directly with what you study.

reply to post by VonDoomen


My bad, have seen the footage awhile ago but didnt remember them saying it was abandoned.

In light of this new evidence.. Cool vid, cool find and isnt nature awesome

I thought this was the ANT People of the Hopi.

S n F for sharing.

As a previous poster said, they can't even find their brain yet they can make something like this. Amazing what instincts can do.

Interesting
Maybe the ants are the peak of evolution, socially compatible, highly intelligent, hardworking and no brains.
I know so many who have a brain and none of those traits

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Thank you

Semper