My Mazamet

Life at № 42 by E.M. Coutinho

Aristocratic Ants, New York Times, 1892

17 comments on “Aristocratic Ants, New York Times, 1892

  1. inspiredbythedivine1
    July 3, 2017

    Sounds like something Jonathan Swift or Mark Twain would write, though I highly doubt there’s any satire intended here. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to give my ant slaves their chores for the day.

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Esme upon the Cloud
    July 3, 2017

    I know much of this issue, thanks to Albert, my Ant Butler –

    – Esme standing with the ants upon the Cloud

    Liked by 5 people

    • inspiredbythedivine1
      July 3, 2017

      Albert used to work for me. Be careful because I caught him embezzling from me and had to fire him. The little “bugger.”

      Liked by 4 people

      • Esme upon the Cloud
        July 3, 2017

        He’s a changed ant these days, back then he was hanging about with a crowd of dodgy woodlice. I do have miniature CCTV trained on him just to be sure mind you.

        – Esme getting down with the beasties upon the Cloud

        Liked by 4 people

  3. acflory
    July 3, 2017

    I thought this article was some kind of hoax, or an attempt to justify slavery, but apparently it’s true.

    The thing I found most interesting, however, was that the slave-making ants were described as having ‘specialised’ so much that they could no longer look after their own young or even feed themselves. Now /that/ is a counter survival behaviour if ever there was one. If catastrophe struck and they ran out of smaller ants to enslave, the whole species would die out.

    I guess this is an example of a lop-sided symbiosis in which the more powerful partner is, in evolutionary terms, the weaker.

    Thanks Pinky. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Hariod Brawn
    July 4, 2017

    How many ants are needed to fill an apartment?

    Tenants.

    Liked by 3 people

  5. Hariod Brawn
    July 4, 2017

    What did the Pink Panther say when he stepped on an ant?

    Dead Ant . . . Dead Ant . . . Dead Ant, Dead Ant, Dead Ant, Dead Ant, Dead Aaaannt . . .

    Liked by 3 people

  6. Hariod Brawn
    July 4, 2017

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Bela Johnson
    July 4, 2017

    This is chilling because those ‘sentiments’ persist to this day in certain circles. And saw this today, seemed something you would find of interest. Wonder if you’re familiar:
    http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-1.798168

    Liked by 3 people

    • The Pink Agendist
      July 4, 2017

      No, I’d never heard about it. What an amazing story. The paradoxes in the article itself are amazing, the writer can’t help but highlight the importance of the aristocracy/wealth/importance of the Hungarian family- as a marker of value.

      Liked by 2 people

  8. foolsmusings
    July 4, 2017

    I had several ants who were nuns…. Oh sorry, aunts. :p

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Information

This entry was posted on July 3, 2017 by in thinking aloud and tagged , , , , .