FIRE ANT

I was sitting alone as usual, contemplating the flow of water by the scenic campus waterfront and the flow of existence itself, when a "friend" joined me. That friend was no ordinary friend, that friend was the FIRE ANT, friend extraordinary, worker of the highest caliber!

"Why, hello," I said, so alienated from humanity at that point from a string of dull, meaningless, superficial interactions with my fellow human race. Mr. FIRE ANT chilled around the steel picnic table, as if making an ascension on the crater of the moon itself and claiming his territory. I had to whip out my camera to capture this epic scene.

"Hey, don't run away from me!" I said, as I fumbled with the camera settings, wanting to capture the memory of this nimble little beast for all eternity. I zoomed in as much as maximally possible to capture every fiber of his being that I could, and it worked!

As you can see, his thorax (mesosoma), abdomen (metasoma), and head are all fully visible, along with his antennae, eyes, and six legs. I find the eyes and his head shape particularly interesting. It's not everyday that you get to stare into an ant's eyes (well, I've met men that are kind of pesky and ant-like, but that's a whole other topic).

His head, much like the rest of his body, has a somewhat robotic quality to me. There is no greater architect than nature, in my estimation, as we cannot even design robots that move and operate as perfectly as this creature. He is immaculate, no? "Just don't bite me", I told him, "or I'll sweep you off this table", and I meant it.

"You're at my mercy", I reminded him. Nature is at our mercy after all, as humans, conquerors extraordinaire - warriors, thieves, and worker-bees ourselves? His head also reminds of the shape of an iron welding mask, and he's red like communism. But, the gentleman seems to be wearing trousers (darkened legs), and dare I say, cream slippers (observe his feet)??

No, it is I projecting human features onto him to render him anthropomorphic.

Anyways, this brief encounter with the FIRE ANT was years ago but still had more impact on me than some brief encounters with people. I can't remember if it was I that stood up from the table and walked away first, or if he was the one to scurry off? Either way, one or both of us scurried off at some point and had other business to attend to.

You know, ANTS have a very complex social system of their own, some socio-biologists study it. Just google "ants social behavior" and you'll be entertained for hours. In fact, they are considered eusocial insects, which means they demonstrate an advanced level of social organization through features such as cooperative behaviors including: nursing, foraging, division of labor, castes, nest maintenance (yes, NEST maintenance, just like you maintan that box you call an apartment), defense and policing.

I wonder what was the role of this FIRE ANT in his colony? Was he a POLICE OFFICER ANT? A FORAGER? A BASIC WORKER? Their caste systems are divided up based on phenotypic traits, most markedly SIZE. This affects their division of labor and responsibilities.

My god, maybe he's a mother! I don't know his gender but just assigned 'male' to him implicitly.

Who sent him to this picnic table to talk with me?? He must be PR! AN AMBASSADOR OF THE FIRE ANTS TO HUMANS. But he could be asking the same thing, who sent me to this picnic table, invading his space?? "No one, I sent myself."

"Well, I sent myself too", he finally responded before scurrying off. JK, he didn't say anything but his eyes say it all. Just great to have the opportunity to appreciate nature up-close in the plastic wild. So rarely do we get a chance to decompress, stop, and appreciate nature in our stressful daily lives in our plastic wild, in our plastic society, in our manufactured spaces, in our forsaken offices, high-strung boxes, and lost yards.

I don't know what kind of effect we have on ants' lives, and maybe I don't care. And, the FIRE ANT doesn't care either, I bet. However, undoubtedly, as ants' and humans' paths cross as we inhabit this planet collectively; our lives are intertwined indelibly, as collaborators in what makes this world great. From this standpoint, environmental stewardship and preventing endangerment of species only makes sense, be it the FIRE ANT or any other species, each with its own unique legacy and place in this world.