Flush it Friday: Supraorganism Edition
The concept of supraorganisms is nothing new (it was coined in 1789 by James Hutton), but two centuries have done little to diminish the wonder they instill. I recently wrapped up E.O. Wilson’s Tales from the Ant World, where the professor regales us with stories of his time researching leafcutter ants and the “organs” formed by the castes within their societies. (Namely, queens form the reproductive system, farmers tilling the fungal gardens form the digestive system, etc.)
In my estimation, the most fascinating aspect of the leafcutter supraorganism is the immune/defense system formed by the cooperation of the minor and medias casts. The medias ants collect the leaf fragments to bring back to the colony, but they’re particularly vulnerable to parasitic flies that swoop in to lay eggs on the preoccupied gatherers. Thankfully, the minor ants are there, riding on each leaf, ready to kick the heqq out of these parasites to protect their medias teammates. This, my friends, is how your species sticks around for ~150 million years—a timespan I expect this bowl will last for.
Our new friend Murad got outspoke about Otoboke Beaver:
Hans said “ayam what ayam, and ayam a fan of Disillusion‘s Ayam”, earning the highly-anticipated coveted 5/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell:
The prodigal beargod, Nordling Rites ov Karhu returns to flatten us under the tank treads of the Nattmaran/Terror Cross split premiere:
Premiere: Nattmaran x Terror Cross – Rise of The Nightmare Terror
Beavis Christ pulled a whole lot of writeupness out of this Nothingness premiereness:
Raw Power Festival live? Guest writer Rory Hughes? You’d better take a look:
Cosmic Ordnance and Arthropodic Degeneracy: The Last Raw Power Festival, 2022
Got any stories about ants? I bet Megachiles does. Anyways, G/B/Us or lose. ~<3 Roldy
