Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Ants as a Vector. A Pennsylvania eight-year-old boy thought he saw ants transporting seeds to their nest. This phenomenon is called myrmecochory and the seeds are with Structures called elaiosomes which entice ants with nutrient-rich fats. In the nest the ants remove the elaiosomes and leave the seed to later germinate. This helps seed dispersal as well as feeding the ants! Instead of seeds, the boy, Hugo, had discovered the ants were collecting oak galls. (This basically rewrites 100 years of insect and plant interactive history!) Galls are abnormal plant growths (often on oaks) induced by some wasp species. The gall feeds and protects the larva growing from the wasp egg laid inside. Oak galls have a structure named 'kapello' from the Greek for 'cap'. These 'kapellos' (actually, 'kapelli') are also rich in fatty acids to attract ants. Similarly, the ants eat the 'kapelli', leaving the gall and larva inside intact, Which once again gives similar shelter for the encapsulated intact larva. Both phenomena either attract or exploit ant behavior. The fatty acids in both structures mimic dead insects, And ants, being scavengers, are attracted to what seems to be usual food. This mimicry 'makes certain' these evolutionary strategies Blur the lines between plant and animal adaptations. Experimentation showed only similar ant behavior with the two structures. If oak trees are lost, disruption would occur between ants, wasps, and galls. This is another example of a vital ecological network And that ecosystems are certainly interconnected. We must preserve biodiversity, much of it by controlling the climate crisis. Frank Maurer 14 December 2024 1210 Hours.